Will there be a female president in Armenia? appreciate the chances

The fact that female candidates are running for president in this year’s Artsakh presidential election is itself an important factor in raising high ambitions among women. In fact, this is the first case not only in Artsakh, but also in the history of all presidential elections in Armenia. In the six presidential elections in Armenia and five in Artsakh, no female candidate has been nominated.

In the past, there were women in Armenia who expressed a desire to run for office but failed to complete the task. Thus, in 1998-1991 Lyudmila Harutyunyan, professor of sociology of the USSR, expressed her desire to run for president. The biography of the latter states that she was a presidential candidate in 1998, but her name is not listed among the 13 candidates, as she has lately decided not to submit her documents. The next attempt was registered in the 2013 presidential election, when Narine Mkrtchyan, the president of the National Press Club, announced her intention to run. However, the RA Central Electoral Commission did not register her as a candidate due to incomplete registration documents. In particular, Narine Mkrtchyan did not submit to the CEC a receipt for payment of 8,000-fold minimum wage.

By the way, the 2013 elections could have been marked by the fact that there was another female candidate besides Narine Mkrtchyan. The Free Democrats party was considering nominating its deputy chairman, Anush Sedrakyan, but the issue remained at the level of discussion.

In the newly independent history of Armenia, only male candidates have been nominated in all presidential elections: in 1991, when 6 presidential candidates were nominated, and in 1996 (7 candidates), in 1998 (13 candidates), and in 2003 (9 candidates competed) and in 2008, when 8 candidates were fighting, and so on…

After the constitutional amendments of 2015, the citizens of Armenia are no longer able to elect a president. Since the republic is now a country of parliamentary governance, then the president in 2018 was elected not by the citizens of the Republic of Armenia by direct election but by the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia. The question arises, does the new Constitution increase the chances of women becoming president one day…

For years we have been talking about and witnessing women avoiding big politics, considering that men have all the resources in their hands – financial, administrative, district and so on. And although women are no less professional and well-trained, they are in active politics largely thanks to a quota that obliges parties to participate. As a result, a large number of active women emerged in the parties today, who were left in the shadows. On the other hand, there has also been a generation change, and women of the new generation are much more active and courageous. So we can assume that if the governing system were not changed, it would be possible that women would be nominated in the next presidential election.

In any case, times have changed, and today, with the current constitution, the chances of women running for president are quite high. In addition, the Presidential Institute, to put it mildly, is weakened and no longer as attractive to men as it used to be. This also raises the chances of having a female president in Armenia in the near future, especially given the example of Georgia, which is the first female president in the South Caucasus region to be stereotyped.

By the way, in the near future Azerbaijan may also follow the example of Georgia, where Mehriban Aliyeva is aspiring to the post of President. In this case, the logic of having a female president in Armenia would be even more justified. Moreover, it will be the expected continuation of the “Women for Peace” campaign initiated by RA Prime Minister Anna Hakobyan…