Tweet
Chicago Tribune, IL
May 6 2012
Armenia's ruling parties set to keep grip on power
Margarita Antidze and Hasmik Lazarian
Reuters
9:37 a.m. CDT, May 6, 2012
YEREVAN (Reuters) - Armenians looked set to return the two biggest
parties in the ruling coalition to power on Sunday, in an election
they hope will be free of the fraud and violence that marred the South
Caucasus country's last national election in 2007.
President Serzh Sarksyan's Republican Party and Prosperous Armenia,
led by businessman Gagik Tsarukyan, were expected to remain in charge
of the former Soviet republic, and the poll is seen as a test of
strength between the two parties.
More than 300 international observers from the Organisation for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are monitoring voting. One
observer said privately there had been violations.
Ink stamps on the passports of people who had already voted had
disappeared within 15 minutes, giving them the chance to vote again,
the observer said.
There were no reports of violence, an encouraging sign for the country
of 3.3 million that wants stability to boost the economy, devastated
by a war with neighboring Azerbaijan in the 1990s and then the
2008-2009 global financial crisis.
"I hope everything will be calm and peaceful, and everything
transpires lawfully - today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow,"
Sarksyan said after voting with his wife at the 9/11 polling station
in the centre of the capital Yerevan.
Voters trickling to the polls in bright sunshine also hoped the
election would be a landmark for democracy after criticism by
international observers over Armenia's elections since the end of
communist rule.
"I hope that not one or two, but several parties will be elected. It
will help there to be discussions in the new parliament and laws
adopted for the sake of people," Gohar Karapetyan, a 48-year-old
teacher, said after voting at a school built in the Soviet-era and
decorated with the national flag.
Voting was due end at 8.00 p.m. (1600 GMT) and an exit poll was due to
be released shortly afterwards.
Eight parties and one party bloc were running for seats in parliament
and 155 candidates were registered in 41 single-mandate
constituencies.
The government previously included two other parties, but one pulled
out in 2009, citing differences over foreign policy. The other
coalition partner, Country of Law, may struggle to cross the five
percent of votes threshold to enter parliament.
The parties have made social problems and economic issues the main
slogans of an election campaign that has been unusually active for
Armenia, Russia's main ally in the region.
There are no major differences in their economic programs, which call
for more active development of domestic industry and continuation in
cooperation with Russia as well as international financial
organizations.
Analysts say the Armenian National Congress, a coalition of opposition
groups led by former President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, could make it into
parliament after leading street protests since he lost the 2008
presidential poll to Sarksyan.
"I'll accept any results if elections are held without violations,"
Ter-Petrosyan told reporters after casting his ballot at the same
polling station as Sarksyan two hours later.
A blast at a campaign rally injured about 150 people on Friday,
raising fears of a repeat of the violence that killed 10 people after
the 2008 presidential election, but emergency officials said it was
caused by gas-filled balloons exploding.
Armenia nestles high in the mountains of a region that is emerging as
an important transit route for oil and gas exports from the Caspian
Sea to energy-hungry world markets, although it has no pipelines of
its own.
Although a ceasefire was reached in 1994, its conflict with Azerbaijan
over the tiny Nagorno-Karabakh region remains unresolved and a threat
to stability.
Relations with another of its neighbors, Turkey, are also fraught
because Ankara does not recognize the killing of Armenians in Ottoman
Turkey during World War One as genocide.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-armenia-electionbre84508d-20120506,0,4287376.story
May 6 2012
Armenia's ruling parties set to keep grip on power
Margarita Antidze and Hasmik Lazarian
Reuters
9:37 a.m. CDT, May 6, 2012
YEREVAN (Reuters) - Armenians looked set to return the two biggest
parties in the ruling coalition to power on Sunday, in an election
they hope will be free of the fraud and violence that marred the South
Caucasus country's last national election in 2007.
President Serzh Sarksyan's Republican Party and Prosperous Armenia,
led by businessman Gagik Tsarukyan, were expected to remain in charge
of the former Soviet republic, and the poll is seen as a test of
strength between the two parties.
More than 300 international observers from the Organisation for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are monitoring voting. One
observer said privately there had been violations.
Ink stamps on the passports of people who had already voted had
disappeared within 15 minutes, giving them the chance to vote again,
the observer said.
There were no reports of violence, an encouraging sign for the country
of 3.3 million that wants stability to boost the economy, devastated
by a war with neighboring Azerbaijan in the 1990s and then the
2008-2009 global financial crisis.
"I hope everything will be calm and peaceful, and everything
transpires lawfully - today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow,"
Sarksyan said after voting with his wife at the 9/11 polling station
in the centre of the capital Yerevan.
Voters trickling to the polls in bright sunshine also hoped the
election would be a landmark for democracy after criticism by
international observers over Armenia's elections since the end of
communist rule.
"I hope that not one or two, but several parties will be elected. It
will help there to be discussions in the new parliament and laws
adopted for the sake of people," Gohar Karapetyan, a 48-year-old
teacher, said after voting at a school built in the Soviet-era and
decorated with the national flag.
Voting was due end at 8.00 p.m. (1600 GMT) and an exit poll was due to
be released shortly afterwards.
Eight parties and one party bloc were running for seats in parliament
and 155 candidates were registered in 41 single-mandate
constituencies.
The government previously included two other parties, but one pulled
out in 2009, citing differences over foreign policy. The other
coalition partner, Country of Law, may struggle to cross the five
percent of votes threshold to enter parliament.
The parties have made social problems and economic issues the main
slogans of an election campaign that has been unusually active for
Armenia, Russia's main ally in the region.
There are no major differences in their economic programs, which call
for more active development of domestic industry and continuation in
cooperation with Russia as well as international financial
organizations.
Analysts say the Armenian National Congress, a coalition of opposition
groups led by former President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, could make it into
parliament after leading street protests since he lost the 2008
presidential poll to Sarksyan.
"I'll accept any results if elections are held without violations,"
Ter-Petrosyan told reporters after casting his ballot at the same
polling station as Sarksyan two hours later.
A blast at a campaign rally injured about 150 people on Friday,
raising fears of a repeat of the violence that killed 10 people after
the 2008 presidential election, but emergency officials said it was
caused by gas-filled balloons exploding.
Armenia nestles high in the mountains of a region that is emerging as
an important transit route for oil and gas exports from the Caspian
Sea to energy-hungry world markets, although it has no pipelines of
its own.
Although a ceasefire was reached in 1994, its conflict with Azerbaijan
over the tiny Nagorno-Karabakh region remains unresolved and a threat
to stability.
Relations with another of its neighbors, Turkey, are also fraught
because Ankara does not recognize the killing of Armenians in Ottoman
Turkey during World War One as genocide.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-armenia-electionbre84508d-20120506,0,4287376.story