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ARMENIA PRESIDENT SECURES RE-ELECTION
EuroNews
Feb 18 2013
Europe
Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan appears headed for a second five-year
term. Exit polls suggest he has gained 58 per cent of votes cast.
The last presidential election, in 2008, was marred by clashes in which
10 people were killed, but there were no immediate reports of violence.
His closest rival Raffi Hovannisian has 32 per cent and the lack of
serious competition has led many to question the democratic credentials
of the poll.
Questions also linger over security in a nation locked in a dispute
with neighbouring Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic
Armenian-majority enclave inside Azerbaijan over which Armenians and
Azeris fought a war in the 1990s.
The contest was also overshadowed by an attempt to kill a minor
candidate. Paruyr Hayrikyan, 63, an outsider in the election. He was
shot in the shoulder last month.
But Sarksyan will also hope the election secures the approval of
international observers and ensure some stability after years of war
and upheaval.
Final results are expected by Tuesday.
http://www.euronews.com/2013/02/18/armenia-president-secures-re-election/
EuroNews
Feb 18 2013
Europe
Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan appears headed for a second five-year
term. Exit polls suggest he has gained 58 per cent of votes cast.
The last presidential election, in 2008, was marred by clashes in which
10 people were killed, but there were no immediate reports of violence.
His closest rival Raffi Hovannisian has 32 per cent and the lack of
serious competition has led many to question the democratic credentials
of the poll.
Questions also linger over security in a nation locked in a dispute
with neighbouring Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic
Armenian-majority enclave inside Azerbaijan over which Armenians and
Azeris fought a war in the 1990s.
The contest was also overshadowed by an attempt to kill a minor
candidate. Paruyr Hayrikyan, 63, an outsider in the election. He was
shot in the shoulder last month.
But Sarksyan will also hope the election secures the approval of
international observers and ensure some stability after years of war
and upheaval.
Final results are expected by Tuesday.
http://www.euronews.com/2013/02/18/armenia-president-secures-re-election/