Interfax, Russia
Feb 16 2013
Two Armenian presidential candidates refuse to cast ballots in protest
YEREVAN. Feb 16
Armenian presidential candidate Andrias Gukasian, who has been on a
hunger strike since January 21, will not vote in the elections.
“I am not going to take part in the voting, and I intend to continue
my protest action,” Gukasian told journalists on Saturday.
Gukasian, who has maintained a hunger strike in the center of Yerevan
for 27 days, has demanded that the Central Elections Commission (CEC)
cancel incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan’s registration as a
presidential candidate and stop the international election observer
mission in Armenia. The CEC declined Gukasian’s demands due to the
absence of legal grounds for granting it.
Gukasian made a statement on Saturday, saying that the outcome of the
voting in the elections “will not reflect the people’s will.” He also
claimed that the Republican Party led by the incumbent president “is
giving out large election bribes.”
“If international observers recognize the elections in Armenia as
complying with the European standards, they will bear moral and
political responsibility for this. This will create the impression
that European political forces also come to power through pressure and
the use of election bribes,” Gukasian’s statement says.
Gukasian also said he was determined “to put an end to the new
political process” in Armenia. “We are sure that the citizens of
Armenia will defeat the criminal-oligarchic regime and establish
democracy in the country through a general civil disobedience
campaign,” he said.
Another presidential candidate, Arman Melikian, a former foreign
minister of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh republic, earlier
announced his decision not to cast his ballot. He explained the move
by his disagreement with the number of voters put on the official
voter list. “The overall number of voters is about 1.3 million people,
but 1.6 million voters will be eligible to vote in the elections. It
is wrong to turn a blind eye to this lawlessness,” he said.
Running in the presidential elections slated for Monday, February 18,
are incumbent President and leader of the ruling Republican Party
Serzh Sargsyan, former Prime Minister and leader of the opposition
Freedom party Grant Bagratian, former Foreign Minister and leader of
the opposition party Heritage Raffi Ovannisian, leader of the National
Self-Determination Association party Paruyr Hayrikyan, Arman Melikian,
Andrias Gukasian, and expert in epic studies Vardan Sedrakian. Another
candidate, Aram Arutyunian, the leader of the National Accord party,
withdrew from the race on February 8.
va
From: A. Papazian