Expert: During presidential elections of 2013 Serzh Sargsyan's victory is secured even in the first round

• Tuesday, October 30, 16:14

 The second president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan will not run for president in 2013 unless he has serious political support or victory guarantee, Gevorg Poghosyan, Director of the Institute of Philosophy, Sociology and Law, National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, told ArmInfo.        

"Only shallow persons can participate in elections without a serious party's support. They do that just to show themselves off. Kocharyan is a serious politician, who will not take part in the elections without the support of Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), which may nominate PAP Leader Gagik Tsarukyan's candidacy, or ARF Dashnaktsutyun", he said. In the meantime, Poghosyan failed to reply
to the question whether the second president of Armenia prevents the PAP from cooperating with the Republicans and whether he doesn't allow the PAP to support the incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan during the forthcoming presidential elections. 

The expert thinks that the second president has apparently taken a back seat for some time, and the supposed fight among the three
presidents will not take place. He says the fight could take place only in case of force-majeure, particularly, in case of confrontation
in the Karabakh conflict zone or a domestic political crisis, when the second and the first presidents feel that their time has come and
the incumbent president has no constitutional right to take part in the elections. Poghosyan added that one should not expect a second round in the presidential elections 2013, as at the moment Serzh Sargsyan has no real competitor.   

To recall, the presidential elections in Armenia will be held in Feb 2013. According to the mass media, the possible candidates for the presidents are the ex-foreign minister of Armenia Vartan Oskanian, first president of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Leader of Heritage
Party Raffi Hovannisian, who has recently put down his deputy mandate, second president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan, Leader of
Prosperous Armenia Party Gagik Tsarukyan. According to a public opinion poll, 43.4% of the opposition electorate prefers Gagik
Tsarukyan's candidacy, the following candidacies rank next: Robert Kocharyan (20.2%), Raffi Hovannisian (14.2%), Levon Ter-Petrosyan (5.8%), ARFD Bureau member Vahan Hovhannisyan (5.7%).