Internet Becoming Active Campaign Tool For Presidential Runners

INTERNET BECOMING ACTIVE CAMPAIGN TOOL FOR PRESIDENTIAL RUNNERS

TERT.AM
18.01.13

Almost all the candidates running for presidency are positively
disposed to using online tools, particularly social networks – in
addition to televised speeches and ads – for their electoral race.

Thus, incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan’s official website will
be available from January 21, the very first day of the official
campaign. Speaking to Tert.am, a spokesperson for the ruling Republican
Party of Armenia, Edward Sharmazanov, confirmed that they also have
internet resources in their arsenal.

Paruyr Hayrikyan, who leads the National Self-Determination Union,
finds the internet one of the latest achievements of the humankind.

“Video footages, speeches, meetings and many other things will be
uploaded to the website. Also, our activists will post the material
on the social networking site Facebook,” he told Tert.am.

The candidate, said he initially avoided Facebook but later changed
his attitude, seeing the number of pending friend requests.

The politician’s public profile, Hayrikyan for President, has already
attracted 329 likes.

The Heritage party is also going to actively use the internet for
its leader, considering it a key tool of the electoral race. “With
the launch of the campaign, we’ll have Raffi Hovhannisyan’s site
and simultaneously open a Facebook page,” he said, adding that the
Heritage’s profile will also focus on the upcoming election.

Andrias Ghukasyan also treats the internet campaign quite positively.

“I am active and find it a more flexible form of communicating with the
public, so we’ll pay attention to the internet during the campaign,”
he said, noting that his election platform has been available on
his official site since December. So far, 1,895 Facebook users have
“liked” Ghukasyan’s public profile.

Arman Melikyan, a former foreign minister of the Nagorno-Karabkakh
Republic, has for now launched only Facebook page, but he intends
to use all the internet resources ahead of the polls. “I treat that
phenomenon quite positively, so we’ll speak of that on the first day
of the campaign,” he said.

As for Ex-Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan, his press secretary said
they will keep using the internet as they do now. The candidate has
launched both a website and a Facebook page,(which has 1,518 likes at
the moment). “Bagratyan’s campaign headquarters is working actively
on the internet,” said the spokesperson, Karine Harutyunyan.

Head of the National Consent party Aram Harutyunyan also considers
this form of campaign quite normal and agrees to the circulating
opinion that the internet eventually incited the revolution in Egypt.

Ahead of the parliamentary polls in the neighboring Georgia, the two
main challengers, President Mikheil Saakashvili and the current Prime
Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, had over 300 and 250 fans on the social
networking site.

Barack Obama is the most popular politician on Facebook, with over 14
million fans. In Twitter, which is more influential in the western
world, the US president has over 25 million followers. But the site
enjoys less popularity in Armenia, with politicians not being active
there.

From: Baghdasarian