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ARMENIA'S PRESIDENT SARKISIAN TIPPED TO WIN
Deutsche Welle, Germany
Feb 18 2013
Exit polls from Armenia's election suggest that incumbent President
Serge Sarkisian has won another five-year term. He has promised
stability for the troubled region where pipelines carry Caspian oil
and gas to Europe.
An exit poll by Gallup and the Baltic Survey showed Armenia's
pro-Russia President Serge Sarkisian being re-elected with 58 percent
of the votes cast. The closest of six rivals was post-Soviet Armenia's
first foreign minister, Raffi Hovannisian, who had 32 percent.
The initial figures suggest that Sarkisian has avoided the need for a
runoff, which is required if no candidate reaches the 50 percent mark.
Several prominent opposition rivals had chosen not to stand, including
former arm-wrestling champion Gagik Tsarukian who leads the Prosperous
Armenia party.
Two other candidates, Paruir Airikian, who was injured in an apparent
assassination attempt in January and former premier Hrant Bagratian
each won about 3 percent, according to the Gallup exit survey of
19,000 voters.
Armenia's electoral commission said voter turnout had been 60 percent
and polling had past off peacefully. The vote which brought Sarkisian
to power in 2008 ended in clashes in which 10 people died.
Hovannisian claimed on Monday that there had been irregularities in
voters' lists and procedures. A fringe candidate, political analyst
Andrias Gukasian, had alleged widespread vote-buying by Sarkisian's
party.
Stability promised
Campaigning ahead of Monday's vote, Sarkisian, 59, had promised
economic recovery and stability in his landlocked South Caucasus nation
after years of upheaval and border closures with Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Sarkisian is a veteran of Armenia's 1990s war with neighboring
Azerbaijan over the disputed Armenian-run region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Poverty high
Most election candidates had promised to reduce poverty and
unemployment, trends which had prompted nearly one million Armenians
to leave over the past two decades.
More than a third of its 3.2 million population lives below the
poverty line, according to the World Bank. Unemployment ran at 16
percent last year.
Armenia also remains estranged from its neighbor Turkey over a
long-running dispute about the massacres of Armenian civilians during
and after World War I.
ipj/slk (Reuters, dpa, AFP)
http://www.dw.de/armenias-president-sarkisian-tipped-to-win/a-16609130
From: A. Papazian
Deutsche Welle, Germany
Feb 18 2013
Exit polls from Armenia's election suggest that incumbent President
Serge Sarkisian has won another five-year term. He has promised
stability for the troubled region where pipelines carry Caspian oil
and gas to Europe.
An exit poll by Gallup and the Baltic Survey showed Armenia's
pro-Russia President Serge Sarkisian being re-elected with 58 percent
of the votes cast. The closest of six rivals was post-Soviet Armenia's
first foreign minister, Raffi Hovannisian, who had 32 percent.
The initial figures suggest that Sarkisian has avoided the need for a
runoff, which is required if no candidate reaches the 50 percent mark.
Several prominent opposition rivals had chosen not to stand, including
former arm-wrestling champion Gagik Tsarukian who leads the Prosperous
Armenia party.
Two other candidates, Paruir Airikian, who was injured in an apparent
assassination attempt in January and former premier Hrant Bagratian
each won about 3 percent, according to the Gallup exit survey of
19,000 voters.
Armenia's electoral commission said voter turnout had been 60 percent
and polling had past off peacefully. The vote which brought Sarkisian
to power in 2008 ended in clashes in which 10 people died.
Hovannisian claimed on Monday that there had been irregularities in
voters' lists and procedures. A fringe candidate, political analyst
Andrias Gukasian, had alleged widespread vote-buying by Sarkisian's
party.
Stability promised
Campaigning ahead of Monday's vote, Sarkisian, 59, had promised
economic recovery and stability in his landlocked South Caucasus nation
after years of upheaval and border closures with Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Sarkisian is a veteran of Armenia's 1990s war with neighboring
Azerbaijan over the disputed Armenian-run region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Poverty high
Most election candidates had promised to reduce poverty and
unemployment, trends which had prompted nearly one million Armenians
to leave over the past two decades.
More than a third of its 3.2 million population lives below the
poverty line, according to the World Bank. Unemployment ran at 16
percent last year.
Armenia also remains estranged from its neighbor Turkey over a
long-running dispute about the massacres of Armenian civilians during
and after World War I.
ipj/slk (Reuters, dpa, AFP)
http://www.dw.de/armenias-president-sarkisian-tipped-to-win/a-16609130
From: A. Papazian