The head of the International expert Center for Electoral Systems (ICES) mission disagrees that the presidential elections in Armenia lacked competitiveness.

“With Prosperous Armenia, Dashnaktsutyun and Armenian National Congress having failed to nominate candidates, the elections somewhat lost acuteness. However, the presence of such candidates as ex-Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan and ex-Foreign Minister Raffi Hovannisian added intrigue to the electoral process,” Alexander Tsinker said.

“Serzh Sargsyan was the only leader in this struggle. Hovannisian’s gaining 37% of votes merely testifies to a fair number of anti-government protesters, rather than his personal popularity.

To Sargsyan, people meant to show that the yellow card may be followed by a red one, should no drastic change occur in the country’s social, economic and political life,” Tsinker said.