-I would first of all like to mention that the list of the instruments used in the course of electoral campaigns in different time periods has not significantly enlarged, nor has it drastically changed. These are the same standard instruments – speeches made on TV and the radio, publications in newspapers, leaflets, video clips, that is to say all the same that we had 10, even 20 years ago. There are no essential novelties, besides, for example, representation in social networks that have emerged as a result of the evolution of the Internet. But this is not at the level of Presidential candidates, but at the level of Presidential candidates’ team activists. As for the supporters of Presidential candidates or specialists involved in their teams, I assume that the situation differs. For example, there are parties which do not invite any specialists since they assume that they can easily hold their own electoral campaigns on their own. Because of this I have many times come across curious situations where the high-ranking officials of an influential party decided themselves what color and what size their placards should be or what font script they should bear…That is to say, with us people have not come to fully understand the notion that the electoral campaign is a science and that only people competent in this discipline must be enrolled in the teams. Both the Presidential and Parliamentary elections that took place in the past 20 years have proved that an electoral campaign is one thing, while the concrete voting is something completely different. That is to say, the efficiency of the canvassing campaign, regardless of the instruments used, almost never impacts on vote results due to a number of factors operating here.      

It is no secret that money and election bribes are the main factors with us. You may invite very literate people, you may organize a very literate canvassing campaign, but the competitor may give out money at the polling stations a few days before voting, go to people’s homes, and pay people bribes which will result in a completely different election outcome. 

 

 

-Management in Armenia is at a different level. Unlike democratic countries, our country is semi-authoritarian. Competition forms the basis of politics in democratic countries. The TV debates show which of the candidates is more competitive, who can better formulate his or her ideas, or has a better vision of the future of the country. TV debates are held in Armenia, but their impact on the elections is not manifest in any way. And the TV debates are a mere formality. Please keep in mind that in the course of the last Presidential elections we also had TV debates, but competition was not the main decisive factor. The decisive factors were rather the so-called other intrigues and issues. 

 

 

-Only one answer can be given to the question on why this or that force has entered and is so actively operating on Facebook: this is fashionable now. They say that even very high ranking officials are online in social networks, also at their working hours. By the way, the number of young governmental and oppositional figures on Facebook is larger than that of older representatives of various camps. But I will repeat myself again: they have joined Facebook not to be closer to Armenian users, nor to attract them to their own camp. They are well aware that the relatively politically active part of the society is represented on Facebook, which can clearly identify the mistakes made by both the power and the opposition. Consequently, the person who criticizes the power on Facebook cannot be dragged to the pro-governmental camp. This is simply impossible. 

 

 

 

 

-It is not that I think badly of it. Rather I very often inteact with people and I know a lot of details about elections.  

 

 

-It is more difficult to hold an electoral campaign in the USA and in other democratic countries than here, since that process takes a number of complex surveys to conduct, in order to enable the study of relatively specific issues. The issue here is to understand and find the correct solution, and make the right decisions. Their political system is more complex and there you cannot buy votes for money, since this is fraught with not only political but also criminal consequences. In Armenia electoral campaigns are organized since there is a law according to which you are obliged to take some concrete actions. Some political figures see the way in which electoral campaigns are organized in other countries, and they think they can do the same in Armenia, too. They write nice speeches no one, in fact, needs. Very often the candidates who are not supported by any party act as Party Presidents in the electoral campaign. In Armenia there are dozens of parties that have only one member. In our country there is no need whatsoever to conduct any electoral campaign, it is necessary only to mention a few platform points – the elimination of corruption, the abolishment of monopolies and so on and so forth. These are the commonly known problems. But the point here is different; the important thing is to be able to solve these problems.