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ARMENIAN OPPOSITION TO PROTEST OVER VOTE RESULT
By Hasmik Lazarian and Margarita Antidze
Reuters
02/19/08
YEREVAN (Reuters) - Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sarksyan won
a presidential election on Tuesday, an exit poll showed, but his
opponents said the vote had been rigged and called their supporters
onto the streets to protest.
Sarksyan, who has said he will continue the policies of outgoing
President Robert Kocharyan, won 57 percent of the vote, the exit
poll showed.
Opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan, first president of Armenia
after it won independence from the Soviet Union, scored 17 percent,
according to the poll by Britain's Populus pollster carried out for
Armenian public television.
But Ter-Petrosyan's aides said he was the real winner and announced
a protest rally in the capital Yerevan on Wednesday.
"The first president of Armenia won in the first round. We would like
to congratulate citizens with that victory," said Ter-Petrosyan's
spokesman Arman Musinyan.
"There were very serious violations during voting, including
ballot-stuffing, kidnapping and the beating of our representatives
at the polling stations," he said.
Land-locked Armenia relies heavily on an alliance with Moscow and
remains poor despite swift recent economic growth.
High in the Caucasus mountains, it is squeezed between Turkey and
Azerbaijan in a region that is emerging as an important transit route
for oil exports from the Caspian Sea to world markets.
Analysts warn that a still-unresolved conflict with neighboring
Azerbaijan over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh could
flare up again into violence.
Stalled efforts to reach a peace deal are likely to be the biggest
challenge facing the new president.
If the exit poll is matched by official results, Sarksyan will have
enough votes to win outright without a second round runoff.
Voting returns were trickling in from polling stations around the
country of 3.2 million people perched high in the Caucasus mountains.
With an estimated 20 percent of the vote counted, central election
commission figures gave Sarksyan 193,921 votes, with Ter-Petrosyan
lagging far behind with 52,548 votes.
Election officials did not say what share of the votes cast this
represented or exactly what proportion of the vote had been counted
FREE AND FAIR?
Sarksyan, after voting in Yerevan, said the priority was for Armenia
to conduct a free and fair election. His campaign team said late
on Tuesday they were waiting for definitive official results before
making a statement.
Previous elections in Armenia have been followed by days of opposition
protests alleging ballot fraud. A new round of protests will be a
test for stability in a country which, in the 1990s, was rocked by
political convulsions.
Election observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation
in Europe will give their verdict on the vote on Wednesday. Their
assessment is likely to be a key factor in whether the opposition
protests build momentum.
Kocharyan, 53, is barred by the constitution from serving a third
consecutive term. He is expected to remain influential but has refused
to disclose what role he wants until his replacement is inaugurated.
He and Sarksyan, both natives of Nagorno-Karabakh and veterans
of its 1990s war with Azerbaijan, are credited with overseeing a
period of double-digit economic growth after economic meltdown under
Ter-Petrosyan.
By Hasmik Lazarian and Margarita Antidze
Reuters
02/19/08
YEREVAN (Reuters) - Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sarksyan won
a presidential election on Tuesday, an exit poll showed, but his
opponents said the vote had been rigged and called their supporters
onto the streets to protest.
Sarksyan, who has said he will continue the policies of outgoing
President Robert Kocharyan, won 57 percent of the vote, the exit
poll showed.
Opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan, first president of Armenia
after it won independence from the Soviet Union, scored 17 percent,
according to the poll by Britain's Populus pollster carried out for
Armenian public television.
But Ter-Petrosyan's aides said he was the real winner and announced
a protest rally in the capital Yerevan on Wednesday.
"The first president of Armenia won in the first round. We would like
to congratulate citizens with that victory," said Ter-Petrosyan's
spokesman Arman Musinyan.
"There were very serious violations during voting, including
ballot-stuffing, kidnapping and the beating of our representatives
at the polling stations," he said.
Land-locked Armenia relies heavily on an alliance with Moscow and
remains poor despite swift recent economic growth.
High in the Caucasus mountains, it is squeezed between Turkey and
Azerbaijan in a region that is emerging as an important transit route
for oil exports from the Caspian Sea to world markets.
Analysts warn that a still-unresolved conflict with neighboring
Azerbaijan over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh could
flare up again into violence.
Stalled efforts to reach a peace deal are likely to be the biggest
challenge facing the new president.
If the exit poll is matched by official results, Sarksyan will have
enough votes to win outright without a second round runoff.
Voting returns were trickling in from polling stations around the
country of 3.2 million people perched high in the Caucasus mountains.
With an estimated 20 percent of the vote counted, central election
commission figures gave Sarksyan 193,921 votes, with Ter-Petrosyan
lagging far behind with 52,548 votes.
Election officials did not say what share of the votes cast this
represented or exactly what proportion of the vote had been counted
FREE AND FAIR?
Sarksyan, after voting in Yerevan, said the priority was for Armenia
to conduct a free and fair election. His campaign team said late
on Tuesday they were waiting for definitive official results before
making a statement.
Previous elections in Armenia have been followed by days of opposition
protests alleging ballot fraud. A new round of protests will be a
test for stability in a country which, in the 1990s, was rocked by
political convulsions.
Election observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation
in Europe will give their verdict on the vote on Wednesday. Their
assessment is likely to be a key factor in whether the opposition
protests build momentum.
Kocharyan, 53, is barred by the constitution from serving a third
consecutive term. He is expected to remain influential but has refused
to disclose what role he wants until his replacement is inaugurated.
He and Sarksyan, both natives of Nagorno-Karabakh and veterans
of its 1990s war with Azerbaijan, are credited with overseeing a
period of double-digit economic growth after economic meltdown under
Ter-Petrosyan.