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5,000 ARMENIANS RALLY FOR FAIR MAY VOTE
Agence France Presse
March 1, 2012 Thursday 4:58 PM GMT
Some 5,000 opposition supporters rallied in the Armenian capital
Thursday to demand fair elections in May that could give the
anti-government coalition its first parliament seats.
"We demand the May 6 parliamentary elections to be free and fair,"
said Levon Zurabian, one of the leaders of the Armenian National
Congress opposition bloc.
The bloc led by former president Levon Ter-Petrosian wants to use
the upcoming parliamentary polls as a springboard to oust incumbent
Armenian leader Serzh Sarkisian. The group currently has no seats
in parliament.
"These elections are a means to get rid of Sarkisian's regime,"
Zurabian told AFP.
Complaining of alleged institutional corruption and democratic failings
in the impoverished former Soviet republic, the bloc won several
concessions from the authorities after a series of rallies last year.
Held on Yerevan's central Liberty Square, the rally also marks the
anniversary of post-election clashes between protesters and police
in 2008 that left 10 people dead.
Armenia has been through political and military turmoil since
independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, with a series of disputed
elections and a war with neighbouring Azerbaijan over the region of
Nagorny Karabakh.
From: Baghdasarian
Agence France Presse
March 1, 2012 Thursday 4:58 PM GMT
Some 5,000 opposition supporters rallied in the Armenian capital
Thursday to demand fair elections in May that could give the
anti-government coalition its first parliament seats.
"We demand the May 6 parliamentary elections to be free and fair,"
said Levon Zurabian, one of the leaders of the Armenian National
Congress opposition bloc.
The bloc led by former president Levon Ter-Petrosian wants to use
the upcoming parliamentary polls as a springboard to oust incumbent
Armenian leader Serzh Sarkisian. The group currently has no seats
in parliament.
"These elections are a means to get rid of Sarkisian's regime,"
Zurabian told AFP.
Complaining of alleged institutional corruption and democratic failings
in the impoverished former Soviet republic, the bloc won several
concessions from the authorities after a series of rallies last year.
Held on Yerevan's central Liberty Square, the rally also marks the
anniversary of post-election clashes between protesters and police
in 2008 that left 10 people dead.
Armenia has been through political and military turmoil since
independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, with a series of disputed
elections and a war with neighbouring Azerbaijan over the region of
Nagorny Karabakh.
From: Baghdasarian