At a press conference today in Yerevan, Regional Studies Center Director Richard Giragosian called Robert Kocharian a “political ghost” and the Prosperous Armenia Party a “political corpse”.

Kocharian was Armenia’s second president and Prosperous Armenia is a party headed by the Armenian business tycoon Gagik Tsarukyan.

The analyst told reporters that it wasn’t clear if the political opposition in Armenia had a specific strategic plan or not.

Giragosian did credit Raffi Hovannisian for injecting a new political set of tactics into Armenia by taking his message to towns and rural communities outside of Yerevan. He said that residents in the provinces are mostly overlooked by Armenian politicians in non-election years.

Giragosian said that the authorities in power get failing grades when it comes to shaping a positive public image.

“All they can do is parade political figures like Artashes Geghamyan and Khosrov Haroutyunyan or the singer Shoushan Petrosyan in front of the TV cameras. Are these the only people they have to represent themselves?” Giragosian asked.

The analyst called February 18, the day of the presidential election, a missed opportunity for Armenia to conduct a truly free and fair ballot.

Giragosian said that every day after February 18 has brought to light more cases of electoral fraud and violations.