Kocharian on the Elections and His Alliance's Failure to Secure a Majority of Votes

In an interview with three private television channels today, former Armenian President Robert Kocharian discussed the reasons why the "Armenia" alliance did not receive a majority of votes in the snap parliamentary elections.

"This is a question that concerns not only me but also many others – psychologists, political scientists, and generally people who are interested in public life," Kocharian said, adding that he has heard many different opinions on the subject, but he personally leans towards three reasons that he believes were decisive in the electoral competition.

"The first is the old-new division, which also has certain class nuances. The division between Armenians and Karabakh residents is significant. This old and new division, the Armenian-Karabakh relationship, has intertwined for understandable reasons. Additionally, there is the aspect of the horror of the danger of a new war. When we spoke about 'dignified peace,' and when part of our society had come to terms with the defeat, some even saw danger in that 'dignified peace,' fearing that these individuals might take some actions to restore dignity, and that these actions could potentially lead to the resumption of war," Kocharian stated.

He also drew attention to the fact that the political force that has instilled fear of a new war ended up benefiting from that situation.

It should be noted that as a result of the snap elections held on June 20, the "Civil Contract" party, as well as the "Armenia" and "I Have Honor" alliances, entered the parliament.