Expert: Representatives of the Armenian Communities of Tbilisi and Adjaria Should Become More Active (EXCLUSIVE)

• 10.27.2017, 13:42
•  Region,  World,  Diaspora,  Interview

On October 21 self-governing bodies' elections were held in Georgia. On the issue "Armedia" IAA spoke with Johnny Melikian, an expert on Georgia.

- Mr. Melikian, many called the local self-governing bodies' elections in Georgia a test for the country's political life. In your opinion, what was the result of the test ?

- In this election, the Georgian authorities should have understood what rating the ruling Georgian Dream party has. According to the preliminary results, the ruling party has around 55% of votes, which is not little: it can be said that in all the main bodies the ruling party will be represented and will lead all these structures. Of course, there are places where representatives of the opposition will be, but their number is very small, and will not have any effect.

All this shows that one year after the parliamentary elections, the ruling party's rating is still maintained, and in that case the same result can be expected during the upcoming presidential elections. Although Georgia has passed to a new system, and the president's powers are limited and will be representative but eventually there was a consensus, and next year presidential elections will be held. I think that the results of these elections show that the ruling party will not have any difficulty in creating conditions for its candidate's victory.

- How can you assess the results of these elections for the Armenian community?

- It can be said, that it was quite positive in Javakhk, the pre-election struggle was very active. I also appreciate the number of candidates in Akhalkalak. In my opinion, the results were negative in Adjaria and Tbilisi. It is noted that the ruling party has not attracted the local Armenians but we have to understand that the reason of negative results in Adjaria and Tbilisi is not only the ruling party, but also the issue of the activity of our community representatives here. If there are some issues in the community life, they must go to politics and try to solve their problems in that way.