The paper says it has learned from sources that senior figures of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) and members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaksutyun (ARF-D) held a gathering in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) on Wednesday, just a day before the scheduled presidential polls.

The meeting reportedly saw the presence of incumbent and former officials, including a former president of Karabakh, Arkady Ghukasyan, as well as ex-ministers and regional governors, who are firmly linked with what is claimed to be the Artsakh clan, especially Armenia’s second president, Robert Kocharyan (who descends from Karabakh).

After meeting the presidential candidates, Vitaly Balasanyan and [incumbent President] Bako Sahakyan, they gave a big party outside the Gandzasar Monastery and had an extensive discussion over the 2013 presidential election in Armenia, claims the paper.

“The table companions admitted openly in this context that the presidential polls will cost the ruling majority, the RPA, a high price, and agreed with that purpose that Karabakh clan has to entirely commit itself to listing votes in Armenia after bringing the Artsakh polls to an end,” says the pape.