“In semi-authoritarian countries with democratic design the ruling power is always inclined to have a political lever against his influential opponent.” – said an expert of electoral technologies Armen Badalyan in the interview with Gala TV commenting on the authorities’ campaign against Vartan Oskanian.
The political persecution against Oskanian has nothing to do with the struggle against corruption, but is an attempt to gain a political lever against PAP having in mind coming presidential elections. The expert noted that this is typical not only to Armenia, but also to countries lacking democracy, namely Russia.
“It turns out that money-laundering is typical only of Vartan Oskanian in the whole NA. There is no other corruption even noting that New York court has lately reached a verdict against ARP MP Vardan Ayvazyan on the accusation of not paying 37 million dollar.”- said Armen Badalyan adding that the authorities will fail in their attempt to bring PAP to knees. According to A. Badalyan one thing is certain, the reaction of international mass media, Oskanian’s meeting with US and Brazilian ambassadors, which means indirect support from these countries.
