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Armenian President Re-Elected In Vote Deemed Fair

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  • Armenian President Re-Elected In Vote Deemed Fair

    LEAD: ARMENIAN PRESIDENT RE-ELECTED IN VOTE DEEMED FAIR

    Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Germany
    February 19, 2013 Tuesday 1:13 PM EST

    Yerevan (dpa) - The vote that led to the re-election of Armenian
    President Serzh Sargsyan was "generally well-administered" noted the
    Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on Tuesday.

    Sargsyan's re-election was officially confirmed by the election
    commission Tuesday, with 58.64 per cent of the vote. Advance polls
    had indicated he would win with a large margin over the other six
    candidates.

    "These elections have shown once again that our people can stand
    together at key moment and make the right decisions," Sargsyan,
    who is now set to hold office until 2018, told local media.

    Former foreign minister Raffi Hovannisian was second with 36.75 per
    cent after all the votes were counted. He has announced plans to
    contest the vote, pointing to what the OSCE calls isolated incidents
    of pressure upon voters.

    Police have recorded more than 100 complaints of irregularities.

    But the international observer team generally gave the elections
    high marks.

    "We have observed a calm election day, characterized by no major
    difficulties in electoral procedures," stated Milan Cabrnoch, the head
    of the European Parliament delegation helping to monitor the polls.

    However, he noted a lack of debate leading up to the polls, largely
    because some key groups had boycotted the elections.

    The OSCE noted that the monitors said the election showed improvements
    from previous Armenian elections. In 2008, at least 10 people died
    during election violence.

    Aside from the shooting of candidate Paruir Airikian, on February 1,
    this election was largely peaceful, they said. Airikian was badly
    wounded, but did not suspend his candidacy.

    However, monitors also expressed some concern that the ruling party
    had not taken enough effort to clearly delineate government work from
    campaign activities.

    "The blurring of the distinction between the state and the ruling
    party continues to be an issue," said Heidi Tagliavini, head of the
    OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. "This was
    demonstrated in the misuse of administrative resources, pressure
    on voters, and a lack of impartiality on the part of the public
    administration."

    Turnout in the poll was 60.05 per cent, according to official
    statements.

    Sargsyan, a pro-Russian who came to power in 2008, is limited to two
    terms by law.

    Feb 19 13 1313 GMT


    From: Baghdasarian
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