Sunday, Sarkisian Congratulates Iran's Rouhani On Election Victory Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian (R) greets his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani at a Yerevan airport, 21Dec2016. Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian emphasized the friendly nature of his country's relations with Iran and hoped for a new level of cooperation as he congratulated President Hassan Rouhani on winning a second term in office in an election held in the Islamic Republic on May 19. Rouhani beat his main challenger, conservative ex-prosecutor Ebrahim Raisi in the first round of the election by polling over 50 percent of the vote. In his congratulatory message to Rouhani, Sarkisian, as quoted by his press office, expressed confidence that during the Iranian president's tenure "the friendly neighborly Iran will continue to develop upward, bringing its considerable and important contribution to the establishment of regional peace and stability." "I am hopeful that through our joint efforts, the traditionally warm and friendly Armenian-Iranian relations will continue to develop and strengthen in all areas, registering a qualitatively new level of cooperation between our peoples," Sarkisian said. "I wish you excellent health, success in all your undertakings, and I wish lasting peace and prosperity to the friendly people of Iran," reads the congratulatory message of the Armenian leader. Sarkisian and Rouhani discussed ways of deepening economic ties between the two countries when the Iranian president paid a visit to Armenia late last year. Those include cooperation in the energy and transportation spheres as well as a tax-free zone in Armenia for Iranian manufacturing firms. Sarkisian also praised Iran for its balanced position on the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. Election Body Rejects Appeal By Opposition Party Over Yerevan Vote . Anush Muradian Armenia -- Central Electoral Commission rejects Yerkir Tsirani party's appeal, Yerevan, 21May2017 Armenia's Central Electoral Commission on Sunday approved the final results of the May 14 municipal elections in Yerevan, rejecting the appeal filed by an opposition party that particularly alleged large-scale vote buying and pressure on people to vote in favor of the ruling party. The governing Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) officially got over 71 percent of the vote, with the opposition Yelk (Way Out) alliance getting 21 percent and the opposition Yerkir Tsirani party receiving some 8 percent of the vote. All three forces participating in the election made it to the 65-member Council of Elders of Yerevan where they will have 46, 14 and 5 representatives, respectively. Following the ballot in which Yelk also alleged vote buying in favor of the HHK, only Yerkir Tsirani formally applied to the CEC, demanding that it annul the election results. The party led by outspoken government critic Zaruhi Postanjian claimed large-scale fraud was committed during the election by the HHK with the assistance of police officers that included vote buying, guidance of voters, as well as violence against Postanjian and her proxy. Postanjian, who ran for mayor in the elections, personally went to one of HHK campaign offices located in incumbent mayor and top HHK candidate Taron Markarian's home district of Avan on the day of the voting to expose what she claimed was a vote buying scheme. Along with her daughter, Lilit Drampian, who also acted as her proxy, she was forced out of the HHK premises by police officers called in by ruling party activists. In a statement released on May 15 Postanjian claimed violence was used against her and her daughter, who suffered a concussion. She also deplored the lack of immediate response from appropriate law-enforcement bodies to the incident. Two criminal cases were later launched by the Special Investigation Service in connection with the incident. In its application the opposition party also alleged that election-related documents kept at the safes at electoral precincts had been tampered with in favor of the HHK. During today's meeting of the CEC Postanjian accused the body of failing to properly notify the party about the date and time of the hearing. Tigran Mukuchian, the head of the CEC, insisted, however, that Postanjian and Yerkir Tsirani were notified by phone in due time. Mukuchian said that in its application the party did not attach any proof of its claims that could become a basis for annulling the results of the Yerevan elections. Eventually, the CEC rejected Yerkir Tsirani's appeal and approved the final results of the elections. Postanjian went on to allege that Mukuchian was acting under pressure as she said one of her party's representatives was notified about the CEC meeting late on Saturday and could not make it to Yerevan from Gyumri early in the morning. "We will turn to the court," Postanjian said, stressing that Yerkir Tsirani will continue to struggle "to create a movement of national resistance that will topple the current regime." Press Review (Saturday, May 20) "Haykakan Zhamanak" tries to understand why in their statement on the most recent ceasefire violations in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone the American, Russian and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group decided to clearly put the blame on Azerbaijan: "This is an unprecedented reaction. Even during the April 2016 war the international mediators and the individual co-chair countries refrained from defining Azerbaijan as an aggressor, even though they surely could not have failed to notice, due to their satellite equipment, that it was Azerbaijan that had launched an offensive along the perimeter of the line of contact# What has changed? The thing is that if the Minsk Group had not made such a targeted statement, having received such data from one of the parties, it would have put its mandate and further activities in doubt." "168 Zham" assesses the latest statement of the OSCE Minsk Group as one of the most serious successes of recent years and even decades in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict: "Finally, the Minsk Group is calling things by their proper names... It is not an exaggeration to say that this was a slap by the international community in the face of Azerbaijan, which is doing and will be doing everything in order to scuttle the agreements reached after the April 2016 war during meetings in Vienna and St. Petersburg... It is hard to say how far this is the result of Armenian diplomatic efforts and how far it is the reflection of the current global geopolitical developments. It is important, however, to keep this result and take the initiative. And this should become the number one task for Armenian diplomacy." "Zhoghovurd" comments on the process of the formation of standing committees in the newly elected Armenian parliament. The daily, in particular, writes: "Armenia has become so dependent on the Kremlin over the past decade that even the existence of a parliamentary committee on European integration should be regarded as a serious achievement. It is another matter whether this was done after permission obtained from the North or as a result of political courage, for which in the near future the Armenian authorities are certain to get some `fraternal' slaps. Given the nominal presence of this committee and its actual inaction in the past, it can be said that this can become a small bonus for the Armenian authorities in order to win the favors of EU officials promising tens of millions in loans. After all, the Kremlin understands that if it gives no money to its outpost, then at least it should not close the opportunity for it to get money from another channel. Otherwise, there may be some uncontrolled developments." Assessing the speech of President Serzh Sarkisian during the first meeting of the new parliament, "Hayots Ashkhar" writes: "The speech of the president at the first meeting of the National Assembly of the sixth convocation was an important one from the point of view of expectations for the coming years in the sphere of economy, social development and other areas. The speech sets out the basic tasks that must become the basis for the future governments' programs. Judging from the president's speech, both in the economic and social spheres strict and high demands are being put forward, and the fulfillment of these demands should create conditions for the formation of a new quality of economic and social environment in Armenia." (Tigran Avetisian) Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2017 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org