Samvel Karapetyan: Attempts by certain forces to disqualify "Strong  Armenia" alliance from elections is yet another manifestation of  outrageous behavior

ArmInfo.  Attempts by certain forces to disqualify the "Strong Armenia" alliance from the  elections is yet another manifestation of outrageous behavior. Samvel  Karapetyan,  the leader of the alliance, made this statementon June  7, after casting his ballot in the country's parliamentary elections.

At the same time, the politician expressed satisfaction that a  correct choice had been made as a result of an accurate assessment of  the situation. Karapetyan emphasized that the elections are taking  place under very difficult circumstances. "Right now, arrests of our  supporters are underway; many, more than 100 people, were detained  yesterday, but it is nothing terrible. They are preparing something  against me again as well, we shall see," the alliance leader stated.  He urged government officials to evaluate the elections after they  are concluded, particularly from the standpoint of their legitimacy  against the backdrop of mass detentions and arrests. He also  deflected a question regarding the possibility of a rupture in  relations with Russia should the "Civil Contract" party retain power,  stating, "we will answer all questions tomorrow."

Furthermore, he dismissed claims by certain forces that the arrival  of many citizens from Russia to participate in the elections was the  result of actions by the Russian FSB as nonsense. "How do you imagine  that? Did 100 people from the FSB convince tens of thousands of  people to come and vote for us? It is simply nonsense," Samvel  Karapetyan noted, adding that the alliance has not distributed any  electoral bribes. "If that were actually happening, I would have been  arrested again. Our task, however, is to decide our own future  ourselves, rather than having external structures do it. The  attention shown to our elections by many global media outlets also  speaks to the importance of the electoral process. I am very glad  that Armenia has become a normal sovereign actor for the world, and  many want to know everything that is happening in the country," the  alliance leader said, while declining to answer a question about the  political force's chances of victory in the elections, noting that  doing so would constitute a violation of campaign silence rules. 

Karapetyan, however, assured that he will spend the next 10 years in  Armenia. "We have a lot of work ahead of us. First and foremost, it  is necessary to unite the people, to reunite the diaspora, and if  there are opportunities for this, I will only be happy," the alliance  leader noted, adding that Armenia must maintain good relations with  everyone: both with America and with Russia. These are the countries  that can and must help the nation develop. "We cannot claim that we  will have good relations only with Russia or only with America;  partnership relations will be established with everyone," the  politician and businessman concluded.