Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

Ink stamp disappears on passports, says coordinator of Hayrikyan’s
election headquarters

17:19 18/02/2013 » POLITICS

Coordinator of Paruyr Hayrikyan’s election headquarters, Manya
Ayvazyan, says they have registered a number of violations which
mainly concern disappearing ink stamps.

`The ink stamp has disappeared on my passport. We receive reports that
stamps have disappeared on the passports of voters at 7/10, 6/27,
12/38, 2/9 polling stations. We have applied orally to Central
Electoral Commission but they refused to make a protocol,’ she said.
CEC did not believe that the stamp had disappeared, she said.

Mrs Ayvazyan added that they received many reports about electoral
violations from Ararat region, but the people were afraid to give
their names.

Source: Panorama.a

From: Baghdasarian

First president of Armenia ready to vote for all seven candidates

YEREVAN, February 18. /ARKA/. The first president of Armenia Levon
Ter-Petrosyan told reporters after he cast his ballot at 9/11 polling
station that he was ready to vote for all seven candidates.

Seven contenders are running for the country’s president today:
incumbent president Serzh Sargsyan, former prime minister and leader
of Freedom party Hrant Bagratyan, former foreign minister and leader
of Heritage party Raffi Hovhannisyan, well-known Soviet dissident and
leader of National Self-Determination party Paruyr Hayrikyan, ex
foreign minister of Karabakh Arman Melikyan, political scientist and
head of Radio Hay Andrias Ghukasyan and specialist in epic studies
Vardan Sedrakyan.

`If it was allowed by the law, I would have voted for all seven
candidates with pleasure’, Ter-Petrosyan joked.

Ter-Petrosyan mocked all candidates for being `more than worthy’, but,
he said, he voted for the Republic of Armenia. He also said that he
always had good expectations of the elections.

Asked to comment on the current president Serzh Sargsyan’s voting for
secure Armenia, Ter-Petrosyan said that his comment may be considered
anti-propaganda. -0 –

From: Baghdasarian

Gyumri Resident: “I am not for sale, report my words to Serzh Sargsyan!”

ARMINFO
Monday, February 18, 14:22

A woman has visited GALA TV in Gyumri earlier today and brought a
photo of her ballot paper with the following sentence wrote on it:
“Tell Serzh Sargsyan that I am not for sale!” She put 5000 AMD in the
envelope of her ballot before dropping it into ballot box.

“I have never taken a bribe, but this time I did it in order this
ballot is sent to Serzh and he could see that not everyone is for
sale,” she said.

The woman said that it is her protest and urged all the others who
took bribes to act in the same way as she did. The woman asked GALA
TV to follow what will happen to her ballot with 5000 AMD inside at
the polling station after voting. She said that she had ‘voted’ at the
school after G. Byron.

The 6th presidential election in the history of independent
post-Soviet Armenia kicked off on February 18 at 8:00am local time.

A total of 41 district election commissions and 1988 territorial
election commissions are operating in the country, with 7 commissions
being set up at penitentiaries. In line with the legislation of
Armenia, voting is possible only in the territory of the country, the
only exception is the members of diplomatic missions in abroad and
their families, who will vote online, a total of 243 people.

A total of 2 million 505,000 people have been included in the
electoral registers.

Thus, the presidential candidates are as follows: incumbent president
Serzh Sargsyan from the Republican Party and former prime minister
Hrant Bagratyan from the Liberty Party. All the remaining are self-
nominated candidates: Leader of the Union for National
Self-Determination Party Paruyr Hayrikyan, Leader of Heritage Party
Raffi Hovannisian, Advisor for Political Issues of the Refugees and
the International Law Civil Society Network, ex-foreign minister of
NKR Arman Melikyan, political expert Andrias Ghukasyan, and specialist
in epic Vardan Sedrakyan. The elections will be held on Feb 18 2013.

From: Baghdasarian

Andreas Ghoukassyan: It would make sense registering voter fraud, if
the court adopted fair decisions

ARMINFO
Monday, February 18, 14:14

Candidate for president of Armenia Andreas Ghoukassyan will not leave
his tent in front of the National Academy of Science and will continue
his hunger strike as it was reported before.

“I am not able to visit the polling station. Today is the 29th day of
my hunger strike,” the candidate told media.

Ghoukassyan’s authorized persons will not visit the polling stations
either. The candidate considers it senseless sending authorized
persons to polling stations because “in such atmosphere no candidate
can protest the votes he receives”.

“I cannot provide security to them. How can I endanger them?”
Ghoukassyan said. He is sure that there will be numerous cases of
voter fraud, but he has no intention to apply to the Constitutional
Court to dispute the voting outcome.

“It would be make sense registering voter fraud if the Court adopted
fair decisions. I don’t trust of the Constitutional Court of our
country,” Ghoukassyan said.

From: Baghdasarian

Vardan Sedrakyan confident he’ll accept congratulations tomorrow
13:16 18.02.2013

Aida Avetisyan
`Radiolur’

Specialist of epic studies, presidential candidate Vardan Sedrakyan
voted today at precinct 3/30 in the administrative district of
Kanaker-Zeitun.

Speaking to reporters, the candidate said he’s confident of his
victory and is ready to accept congratulations tomorrow.

Asked whether he participated in the previous presidential elections
and who he voted for, Sedrakyan said: `In 2008 I was working at Vazgen
Manukyan’s campaign headquarters. It’s easy to guess who I case my
vote for.’

From: Baghdasarian

Second president of Armenia not to vote for president of Armenia

ARMINFO
Monday, February 18, 09:53

Second president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan will not participate in
voting at the presidential election in Armenia.

Spokesperson of the second president Viktor Soghomonyan told ArmInfo
that Robert Kocharyan is not in the country at present.

The 6th presidential election in the history of independent
post-Soviet Armenia kicked off on February 18 at 8:00am local time.
Thus, the presidential candidates are as follows: incumbent president
Serzh Sargsyan from the Republican Party and former prime minister
Hrant Bagratyan from the Liberty Party. All the remaining are self-
nominated candidates: Leader of the Union for National
Self-Determination Party Paruyr Hayrikyan, Leader of Heritage Party
Raffi Hovannisian, Advisor for Political Issues of the Refugees and
the International Law Civil Society Network, ex-foreign minister of
NKR Arman Melikyan, political expert Andrias Ghukasyan, and
specialist in epic Vardan Sedrakyan. The elections will be held on Feb 18 2013.

From: Baghdasarian

Pierced Ballot Box In Avan Or “New Electoral Technique”

Country – Monday, 18 February 2013, 11:17

The observer of the Civil Society Institute has reported that the
ballot box at the polling station 1/6 of Avan community has an opening
at the bottom. The chair of the precinct commission said there are
similar ballot boxes in other polling stations as well. The crack
under the ballot box is interesting. Generally, ballot boxes are
stuffed from the opening at the top. Apparently, there is a decision
to stuff the box from the bottom. It is not ruled out that tunnels
have been dug under the ballot boxes to enable falsifiers to stuff
them from the bottom. At least, it is worthwhile that the proxies of
opposition candidates and international observers check this report.
It is also notable that this ballot box is in Avan, the `area’ of
Ruben Hairapetyan and Taron Margaryan. Both need to rehab themselves
before their `boss’. The first for the murder in his restaurant, the
other for another term in the mayor’s office.

From: Baghdasarian

Hovannisian votes, says passport stamps can be easily erased

February 18, 2013 – 12:06 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The leader of Heritage party, presidential hopeful
Raffi Hovannisian attended the polling station No.10/06 to vote in the
election.

`I vote for progress and development in Armenia,’ the candidate said.
He further dwelled on some technical tissues, noting that the stamp
put in the voters’ passports can be easily erased with a tissue.

1988 polling stations opened in 41 constituencies across the republic
at 8 am local time on Feb 18 and will close at 8 pm. The total number
of voters is 2 505 980.

7 candidates are running for the post of Armenian president: chairman
of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), incumbent president
Serzh Sargsyan, Heritage party chairman Raffi Hovannisian, leader of
Freedom party, former prime minister Hrant Bagratyan, former foreign
minister of Nagorno Karabakh Republic Arman Melikyan, National
Self-Determination Union party head Paruyr Hayrikyan, Radio Hay
director Andrias Ghukasyan and literature expert Vardan Sedrakyan.

From: Baghdasarian

BBC: Armenia President Sarkisian expected to win re-election

The economy has been the major issue in the build-up to the election
Armenians are voting in a presidential election, with the incumbent
Serge Sarkisian expected to win a second five-year term in office.

The vote has been condemned as not presenting voters with any real
choice, with observers saying Mr Sarkisian’s only credible opponents
have withdrawn.

Polls suggest he will win more than 60% of the vote. The Heritage
Party leader, Raffi Hovannisian, is his main rival.

Another candidate was shot last month in a suspected assassination attempt.

Paruyr Hayrikyan of the National Self-Determination Union was wounded
in the shoulder outside his home near Yerevan. He was readmitted to
hospital earlier this week after saying he did not feel well.

A fourth candidate, Andrias Ghukasyan, has meanwhile been on hunger
strike since the start of the campaign in an effort to persuade the
authorities to annul Mr Sarkisian’s candidacy and press international
observers to boycott the election.

And a fifth, Arman Melikyan, has said he will not vote on Monday
because he believes the poll will be rigged in favour of the
president.

Andrias Ghukasyan has been on a hunger strike since 21 January in a
bid to derail the election
Last month, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
expressed great concern that “major political parties, which were
strongly expected to present presidential candidates, chose not to do
so because of their lack of trust in the conduct of the election”.

Mr Sarkisian’s victory in the last election in 2008 sparked deadly
clashes between police and opposition supporters, who alleged
widespread fraud. The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) said the vote had mostly met international standards.

The president’s supporters say Monday’s vote will be free of violence
and allegations of fraud, and that they will show the former Soviet
republic is now politically stable. Last May’s parliamentary
elections, won by Mr Sarkisian’s Republican Party, took place without
any major incidents.

The economy has been the major issue in the build-up to the election.

Although the economy grew about 7% in 2012, unemployment stands at 16%
and more than 30% of the population live below the poverty line.

Trade has been affected by a blockade imposed by Turkey and Azerbaijan
since the 1990s war with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Are you in Armenia? Will you be voting in the presidential election?
Please get in touch using the form below.

From: Baghdasarian

Georgia closed the only TV channel broadcasted on Azerbaijani

15:32 15/02/2013 » SOCIETY

In Georgia, the only channel that was broadcasted in Azerbaijani is
closed. According to the Azerbaijani news agency `Vesti.az’, `one of
the largest national minorities of the country, the Azerbaijanis,
received another very painful blow.’ The agency notes that it recently
writes about the problems of Georgian Azerbaijanis, problems that the
local officials mainly create for them. Today, there is a new problem
there.

As the agency was informed by its readers who live in the Azerbaijani
region of Kvemo Kartli in Georgia, “Marneuli TV” suddenly stopped
broadcasting on local frequencies. This is the only channel
broadcasting in Azerbaijani. Director “Marneuli TV” Shalva Shubladze
confirmed the information received from local residents.

`Since 2006, we had signed a contract with TV Kvemo Kartli located in
Rustavi for using their frequencies. I want to say that we did not
have a sponsor, and we paid for the frequency by our own money.
However, since January of this year the contract was canceled by the
initiative of the “TV Kvemo Kartli” and the frequency was taken from
us, although we regularly paid for the use of the frequency.
Currently, the channel is broadcasted only by the Internet. Since
February 25 “Marneuli TV” will be broadcasted on Batumi channel for
some time. At present negotiations are being held for receiving
leasing of frequencies from different channels,’ Sh. Shubladze said.

The head of `human rights monitoring group of national minorities’
Elbrus Mammadov said that the local population in the region was
watching the programs on this channel, which broadcasted about 12
hours a day, both in Georgian and in Azerbaijani. He also noted that
much of the information on the social and economic problems, the
social and political life in Georgia are only available in national
language. The Azerbaijani in Kvemo Kartli do not possess Georgian at a
sufficient level which knocks them out of all the vital processes in
which they could take an active part.

In its turn, Azer Suleymanov, the lawmaker from the “United National
Movement” who was elected by Marneuli region, said that the issue on
stopping of “Marneuli TV” broadcast concerns the Azerbaijani society
in Georgia. “I will do my best to resume this channel as soon as
possible. Moreover, we will raise the issue of opening region a fully
Azerbaijani TV channel in Kvemo Kartli,” Azer Suleymanov said.

Source: Panorama.am

From: Baghdasarian