Eu Has Concerns About Armenian Vote

EU HAS CONCERNS ABOUT ARMENIAN VOTE

United Press International UPI
Feb 20 2013

BRUSSELS, Feb. 20 (UPI) — The European Union said it expects there
may be outstanding issues following the release of preliminary results
of the Armenian presidential election.

Incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan secured a second term with a
preliminary majority of the vote cast in Monday’s election.

Catherine Ashton, the top foreign policy chief for the European
Union, and EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule issued a statement
Wednesday saying they welcomed the conduct of the elections.

“We expect a number of outstanding concerns to be followed up
appropriately in the future, including reported instances of partiality
by public servants, claims of misuse of administrative resources,
unclear interpretation of campaign financing provisions and cases of
pressure on voters” their statement added.

An international election observation mission expressed similar
concerns, saying that while the election was calm and orderly,
there were signs of interference at the polls, primarily by those
representing Sargsyan.

In 2008, opposition leaders in Armenia called for protests in the
capital city citing irregularities in the presidential elections.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports “several thousand” supporters
of the main challenger, former Foreign Minister Raffi Hovannisian,
called for the latest results to be overturned.