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The Moscow Times, Russia
May 14 2007
Armenia Pro-Presidential Parties Win
YEREVAN, Armenia -- Pro-presidential parties have won a majority in
Armenia's parliamentary elections, the country's election commission
said Sunday, in a vote Western monitors described as a vast
democratic improvement.
The expected big winner in the election -- viewed as a dress
rehearsal for the presidential vote next year -- is Prime Minister
Serzh Sarksyan's Republican Party, which received 33.8 percent with
99.99 percent of the vote counted, RIA-Novosti reported.
Prosperous Armenia, a comparatively new pro-presidential party, had
15.1 percent of the vote, followed by Dashnatsutyun, with 13.1
percent.
Opposition parties Orinats Yerkir and Heritage won 7 percent and 6
percent, respectively.
The country voted Saturday to fill 131 seats in the parliament -- 90
to be chosen according to proportions that parties get nationwide and
41 in single-mandate contests. Final turnout figures showed roughly
1.37 million people voted, a 59.4 percent turnout, election officials
said.
Sarksyan, 52, is a former welder and a trusted lieutenant of Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan, who steps down as leader next year. He
has said he would enter a presidential election if his party asked
him.
"We were not expecting to get more than 50 percent of the vote as we
had worthy opponents," said Armen Ashotyan, a Republican lawmaker.
"We are satisfied."
International observers, who said the 2003 vote fell well short of
democratic standards, praised Saturday's elections as a step forward.
"The Armenian elections were an improvement from previous elections,"
said Tone Tingsgaard, from the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe monitoring team. "Some issues remain and more
is needed to consolidate this democracy."
Observers highlighted the close relationship between businesses and
politicians as a concern and an inadequate electoral complaints
procedure. One of the pro-presidential parties is run by a
millionaire businessman.
A fringe opposition group that wants to start proceedings to impeach
the president and says he has failed the country with his policies is
not expected to win enough votes to clear the 5 percent barrier and
enter the parliament.
Nikol Pashinyan, one of the leaders of the Impeachment party, said
there had been voting violations, and he promised street
demonstrations.
"We do not recognize the result of the election and our struggle will
shift to another stage," he said.
Impeachment supporters and police clashed in the election run-up, but
Sunday the streets of Armenia's capital were quiet. Impeachment has a
few thousand supporters.
Simmering tensions burst to the surface last month when gunmen tried
to kill a senior member of the Republican Party, and two blasts
ripped through the offices of another pro-presidential party.
The violence has revived memories of a 1999 shootout in the
parliament that killed the speaker and the prime minister.
May 14 2007
Armenia Pro-Presidential Parties Win
YEREVAN, Armenia -- Pro-presidential parties have won a majority in
Armenia's parliamentary elections, the country's election commission
said Sunday, in a vote Western monitors described as a vast
democratic improvement.
The expected big winner in the election -- viewed as a dress
rehearsal for the presidential vote next year -- is Prime Minister
Serzh Sarksyan's Republican Party, which received 33.8 percent with
99.99 percent of the vote counted, RIA-Novosti reported.
Prosperous Armenia, a comparatively new pro-presidential party, had
15.1 percent of the vote, followed by Dashnatsutyun, with 13.1
percent.
Opposition parties Orinats Yerkir and Heritage won 7 percent and 6
percent, respectively.
The country voted Saturday to fill 131 seats in the parliament -- 90
to be chosen according to proportions that parties get nationwide and
41 in single-mandate contests. Final turnout figures showed roughly
1.37 million people voted, a 59.4 percent turnout, election officials
said.
Sarksyan, 52, is a former welder and a trusted lieutenant of Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan, who steps down as leader next year. He
has said he would enter a presidential election if his party asked
him.
"We were not expecting to get more than 50 percent of the vote as we
had worthy opponents," said Armen Ashotyan, a Republican lawmaker.
"We are satisfied."
International observers, who said the 2003 vote fell well short of
democratic standards, praised Saturday's elections as a step forward.
"The Armenian elections were an improvement from previous elections,"
said Tone Tingsgaard, from the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe monitoring team. "Some issues remain and more
is needed to consolidate this democracy."
Observers highlighted the close relationship between businesses and
politicians as a concern and an inadequate electoral complaints
procedure. One of the pro-presidential parties is run by a
millionaire businessman.
A fringe opposition group that wants to start proceedings to impeach
the president and says he has failed the country with his policies is
not expected to win enough votes to clear the 5 percent barrier and
enter the parliament.
Nikol Pashinyan, one of the leaders of the Impeachment party, said
there had been voting violations, and he promised street
demonstrations.
"We do not recognize the result of the election and our struggle will
shift to another stage," he said.
Impeachment supporters and police clashed in the election run-up, but
Sunday the streets of Armenia's capital were quiet. Impeachment has a
few thousand supporters.
Simmering tensions burst to the surface last month when gunmen tried
to kill a senior member of the Republican Party, and two blasts
ripped through the offices of another pro-presidential party.
The violence has revived memories of a 1999 shootout in the
parliament that killed the speaker and the prime minister.