Hrant Bagratyan, the candidate who came in third in the February 18 presidential election, has excoriated Serzh Sargsyan’s five years in office as a failure both economically and in terms of advancing social justice.

Here’s the translation of his post:

The atmosphere in Freedom Square is getting hotter. While the rallies haven’t reached the peaks seen in 2008, I believe they are more decisive.

Some had pinned hopes on Sargsyan in 2008. He was the new president and against the inhumane backdrop of Robert Kocharian, it seemed that Sargsyan’s humane characteristics weren’t out of place. There was also the opinion that, taking into account the brutalities of March 1, he would try to compensate the people to some degree with just governance and would make concessions on election issues. That he would change the initial distribution of revenues in favour of the people, that he would curb the oligarchic system, and that he would rein in the powers of district leaders and purveyors of lies.

This is the picture of the past five years: Instead of the promised for 100% additional economic growth, we have 4%. Instead of real double revenue growth we have 11%. On the issue of pensions the picture is a tiny bit better, but here too the growth is three times less than promised. It is sufficient to focus on official reports regarding the widespread consolidation of manufacturing and trade.

By the way, starting from a certain level of economic consolidation, any growth is a waste of resources. Truly, what is the benefit of a similar development when its results wind up going to the oligarchs who, with some exceptions, as a rule take that money overseas? You can’t make the prime minister and some of the ministers understand this because it is outside their realm of capability. The only thing accomplished by Serzh Sargsyan has been a tranquil foreign policy and the apparent lack of personal aggrandizement.

Given all this, should we be surprised by the February 18 election results? In Artashat, for example, real terror reigned. On February 18, four of my proxies were taken. They slashed the tires of the car of attorney Tigran Yegoryan in order to prevent him from taking materials to the election district committee.

They were attacking my campaign offices and later revealed the “guilty party” by providing the names of some youth. Karo Karapetyan, Jonik Abrahamyan, Samvel Karapetyan and Andranik Sargsyan were battling it out amongst themselves to see who would win in which polling precinct. In Avshar, the well-known brothers organized open balloting.

In Yerevan’s Erebouni, Silachi, Malatya and Avan districts, the regime’s “connected underlings” were in a race to prove their loyalty to Serzh Sargsyan by “facilitating” high vote percentages in his favour. In Yeghvard, citizens who had resided abroad for more than fifteen years were voting. Some of them have long since passed from this world. As a result, we got what we got.  

Today, the people have won. They didn’t act as the authorities would have like them to. Freedom Square is overflowing. The time has come for Serzh Sargsyan and the authorities to understand that these are also their people.

They should understand and come to Freedom Square. It is the best opportunity to be with the people and to launch systematic change. Why shouldn’t we liberate ourselves from the above mentioned individuals? Why shouldn’t political life undergo democratization? Why shouldn’t the economy be decentralized? Why shouldn’t we be free of bogus reformers?    

The meeting between Serzh Sargsyan and Raffi Hovannisian has taken place. Why shouldn’t Raffi Hovannisian be given all the decisive and sure-fire possibilities to fix the country? The blueprint can be agreed upon.  Why shouldn’t new elections be declared, including elections for the National Assembly? If the majority in the current National Assembly so desired, it could pass a law stating that 2+2=5. There is no opposition. The National Assembly procedural code is about not passing laws...not about passing them. Why shouldn’t we declare that any district authority or oligarch who illegally intervenes in Yerevan Municipal Council elections will be punished on the spot?

Is it our hope that once again the people will leave Freedom Square empty handed? There’s still time. Serzh Sargsyan and the authorities can change things.

P.S. Regardless of whether I post it or not, my heart and soul is with the people. I will be at Freedom Square tomorrow. Now, I state that which I deem correct. I believe that something will be achieved.