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SwissInfo, Switzerland
March 4 2013
Armenian opposition asks court to rule that it won poll
By Hasmik Lazarian
YEREVAN (Reuters) - Armenia's main opposition party said on Monday the
country's president had rigged the result of a February poll and it
called on the Constitutional Court to rule that it had been the
winner.
Incumbent President Serzh Sarksyan was declared the victor with 58.6
percent of the vote, against 37 percent for opposition leader Raffi
Hovannisian.
"We demand to register the people's victory and to declare Raffi
Hovannisian Armenia's president," Hovsep Khurshudyan, spokesman for
the Heritage Party, told reporters after submitting an appeal to the
court.
The court has 10 days to give its ruling. Armenia's central election
commission said last month there were no legal violations during the
vote that could have influenced results.
International election monitors said the poll was an improvement from
previous ones but that it still lacked real competition after some of
Sarksyan's adversaries decided not to run, fearing the results would
be skewed.
Since the February 18 poll, the opposition has organised a series of
peaceful rallies to protest against alleged vote rigging.
Investors worry over any signs of instability in the South Caucasus
state, where 10 people were killed in violence that followed
Sarksyan's initial election in 2008.
Another candidate, Andrias Ghukasyan, who went on hunger strike at the
start of the campaign to protest against the organisation of the vote,
also submitted a complaint to the Constitutional Court.
Armenia's central election commission said last month there were no
legal violations during the vote that could have impacted results.
Hovannisian, a U.S.-born former foreign minister of the landlocked
ex-Soviet republic, submitted 70 complaints to the electoral
commission, which said last week that the documents were based neither
on facts nor legal evidence.
Armenia, a country of 3.2 million people, hosts one of Russia's few
foreign military bases and is part of a post-Soviet security alliance
dominated by Moscow. It borders Iran, Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan.
(Writing by Margarita Antidze; Editing by Stephen Powell)
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news/international/Armenian_opposition_asks_court_to_rule_that_it_won _poll.html?cid=35139804
March 4 2013
Armenian opposition asks court to rule that it won poll
By Hasmik Lazarian
YEREVAN (Reuters) - Armenia's main opposition party said on Monday the
country's president had rigged the result of a February poll and it
called on the Constitutional Court to rule that it had been the
winner.
Incumbent President Serzh Sarksyan was declared the victor with 58.6
percent of the vote, against 37 percent for opposition leader Raffi
Hovannisian.
"We demand to register the people's victory and to declare Raffi
Hovannisian Armenia's president," Hovsep Khurshudyan, spokesman for
the Heritage Party, told reporters after submitting an appeal to the
court.
The court has 10 days to give its ruling. Armenia's central election
commission said last month there were no legal violations during the
vote that could have influenced results.
International election monitors said the poll was an improvement from
previous ones but that it still lacked real competition after some of
Sarksyan's adversaries decided not to run, fearing the results would
be skewed.
Since the February 18 poll, the opposition has organised a series of
peaceful rallies to protest against alleged vote rigging.
Investors worry over any signs of instability in the South Caucasus
state, where 10 people were killed in violence that followed
Sarksyan's initial election in 2008.
Another candidate, Andrias Ghukasyan, who went on hunger strike at the
start of the campaign to protest against the organisation of the vote,
also submitted a complaint to the Constitutional Court.
Armenia's central election commission said last month there were no
legal violations during the vote that could have impacted results.
Hovannisian, a U.S.-born former foreign minister of the landlocked
ex-Soviet republic, submitted 70 complaints to the electoral
commission, which said last week that the documents were based neither
on facts nor legal evidence.
Armenia, a country of 3.2 million people, hosts one of Russia's few
foreign military bases and is part of a post-Soviet security alliance
dominated by Moscow. It borders Iran, Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan.
(Writing by Margarita Antidze; Editing by Stephen Powell)
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news/international/Armenian_opposition_asks_court_to_rule_that_it_won _poll.html?cid=35139804