Tweet
Armenian presidential candidate shot; says he will seek 2-week delay of vote
(News.am, Arsen Sarkisyan/ Associated Press ) - In this photo taken on
Saturday, Jan. 23, 2013, Paruir Airikian, candidate for the Armenian
presidency, attends a news conference in Yerevan, Armenia. The
longshot candidate for the Armenian presidency was shot in the chest
by an unidentified gunman late Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013 officials said.
He was hospitalized in stable condition as police searched for the
shooter, while the speaker of parliament suggested the election could
be delayed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/armenia-presidential-candidate-shot-and-wounded-parliament-speaker-says-vote-could-be-delayed/2013/02/01/7c66b1ca-6c37-11e2-8f4f-2abd96162ba8_story.html
By Associated Press, Published: February 1
YEREVAN, Armenia - The shooting of a presidential candidate threw
Armenia's election into disarray Friday, with the wounded victim
saying he will call for a delay of the vote.
Paruir Airikian, 63, was shot and wounded by an unidentified assailant
outside his home in Yerevan, the Armenian capital, on Thursday just
before midnight. Airikian said from the hospital after surgery Friday
that he would initiate proceedings as allowed by the constitution to
delay the vote for 15 days due to his condition, but not longer.
He is one of eight candidates in the Feb. 18 race in this landlocked
former Soviet republic and wasn't expected to get more than 1 percent
of the vote. But postponing the election could help opponents of
President Serge Sarkisian, who was expected to easily win a second
five-year term.
Sarkisian said after visiting Airikian in the hospital that the
perpetrators of the attack `obviously had an intention to influence
the normal election process.'
Armenia - a landlocked nation of 3 million people bordering
Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran and Turkey in the volatile Caucasus - has
been known for its turbulent and often violent politics. A 1999 attack
on Parliament by six gunmen killed the prime minister, the speaker and
six other officials and lawmakers.
In 2006, a deputy chief of tax police was blown up in his car. Police
found the man who placed explosives in the vehicle, but failed to
determine who ordered the killing.
In March 2008, clashes between police and supporters of former
President Levon Ter-Petrosian, who lost to Sarkisian in a vote the
previous month, left 10 people dead and more than 250 injured. Later
that year, a deputy police chief was shot and killed in the elevator
of his apartment building, a slaying that remains unsolved.
Sarkisian, a conservative, has stolen the opposition's thunder by
talking with critics and allowing opposition protests. In 2009, the
Parliament granted a sweeping amnesty to hundreds of people detained
for taking part in the post-election violence.
Sarkisian also has overseen a return to economic growth after years of
stagnation and has managed to reduce the country's endemic poverty.
Recent opinion surveys show him getting the support of up to 70
percent of the population.
`Sarkisian has a clear advantage ... and he doesn't need
destabilization,' said Stepan Grigorian, an independent political
analyst.
He said Sarkisian is poised to win the vote anyway, but if he performs
worse than initially expected, that could give more leverage to fringe
groups. `That could make the president more dependent on such marginal
groups,' Grigorian said.
Sarkisian's closest rival is Raffi Hovanessian, a former foreign
minister who has campaigned on populist promises to sharply increase
state salaries and pensions.
Hovanessian also has pledged to recognize the independence of
Nagorno-Karabakh, a stance favored by nationalists. The
Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and some adjacent territory have
been under the control of Armenian troops and local ethnic Armenian
forces since a six-year war ended with a truce in 1994.
Armenia has faced severe economic challenges caused by the closing of
its borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey because of the conflict and
international efforts to mediate a settlement have produced no result.
Sarkisian, like his predecessors, has stopped short of recognizing the
territory as independent.
At the same time, he has taken a tough stance on other foreign policy
issues, pushing strongly for international recognition that the
killings of some 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915
constituted genocide. Turkey has furiously opposed that.
Armenian Parliament Speaker Ovik Abramian, who visited the wounded
candidate in the hospital, said Friday that the attack was a `blow to
the Armenian statehood' and that the election could now be delayed.
The nation's election chief, however, has not commented on the
possibility.
Armenia's constitution requires the vote to be postponed for two weeks
if one of the candidates is unable to take part due to circumstances
beyond his control. A further 40-day delay beyond that is also
possible.
`I have no intention to seek a 40-day delay as I realize that we are
in a process that needs to be finalized,' Airikian said in televised
remarks from the hospital. `But I will have to choose the option of
postponing the vote by 15 days.'
Yerevan Clinical Hospital's chief doctor, Ara Minasian, said Airikian
was being treated for a single gunshot wound and remained in stable
condition. Doctors successfully operated to remove a bullet in his
shoulder.
Airikian, an also-ran in three previous Armenian presidential
elections, was a dissident during Soviet times. He was first arrested
by the KGB when he was 20, and spent 17 years in prison, according to
his party.
In 1987, after Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev launched his liberal
reforms, Airikian created the National Self-Determination Party. When
the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan erupted the next year, he
accused the Soviet authorities of stirring up violence and was evicted
from the country.
Airikian soon returned to his homeland and in the 1990s had senior
positions in Armenia's parliament and government.
On Friday, Airikian blamed ex-Soviet KGB agents of launching the attack.
`I would sincerely say that I see the style of special services of a
foreign state, which haunted me for so long, not Russia, but its
predecessor,' Airikian said. He added that they could have been
worried by his push for Armenia's closer integration into Europe.
Armenia has an economic and security pact with Russia and also hosts a
Russian military base.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland condemned the
shooting of Airikian, adding that Washington expects the Armenian
government to ensure a fair vote in line with the law.
`If he's unable to campaign, we obviously call on Armenians to settle
this constitutionally in a way that assures that these elections go
forward in a way that is free and fair and protects the rights of all
candidates,' she said.
____
Bradley Klapper contributed to this report from Washington.
(News.am, Arsen Sarkisyan/ Associated Press ) - In this photo taken on
Saturday, Jan. 23, 2013, Paruir Airikian, candidate for the Armenian
presidency, attends a news conference in Yerevan, Armenia. The
longshot candidate for the Armenian presidency was shot in the chest
by an unidentified gunman late Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013 officials said.
He was hospitalized in stable condition as police searched for the
shooter, while the speaker of parliament suggested the election could
be delayed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/armenia-presidential-candidate-shot-and-wounded-parliament-speaker-says-vote-could-be-delayed/2013/02/01/7c66b1ca-6c37-11e2-8f4f-2abd96162ba8_story.html
By Associated Press, Published: February 1
YEREVAN, Armenia - The shooting of a presidential candidate threw
Armenia's election into disarray Friday, with the wounded victim
saying he will call for a delay of the vote.
Paruir Airikian, 63, was shot and wounded by an unidentified assailant
outside his home in Yerevan, the Armenian capital, on Thursday just
before midnight. Airikian said from the hospital after surgery Friday
that he would initiate proceedings as allowed by the constitution to
delay the vote for 15 days due to his condition, but not longer.
He is one of eight candidates in the Feb. 18 race in this landlocked
former Soviet republic and wasn't expected to get more than 1 percent
of the vote. But postponing the election could help opponents of
President Serge Sarkisian, who was expected to easily win a second
five-year term.
Sarkisian said after visiting Airikian in the hospital that the
perpetrators of the attack `obviously had an intention to influence
the normal election process.'
Armenia - a landlocked nation of 3 million people bordering
Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran and Turkey in the volatile Caucasus - has
been known for its turbulent and often violent politics. A 1999 attack
on Parliament by six gunmen killed the prime minister, the speaker and
six other officials and lawmakers.
In 2006, a deputy chief of tax police was blown up in his car. Police
found the man who placed explosives in the vehicle, but failed to
determine who ordered the killing.
In March 2008, clashes between police and supporters of former
President Levon Ter-Petrosian, who lost to Sarkisian in a vote the
previous month, left 10 people dead and more than 250 injured. Later
that year, a deputy police chief was shot and killed in the elevator
of his apartment building, a slaying that remains unsolved.
Sarkisian, a conservative, has stolen the opposition's thunder by
talking with critics and allowing opposition protests. In 2009, the
Parliament granted a sweeping amnesty to hundreds of people detained
for taking part in the post-election violence.
Sarkisian also has overseen a return to economic growth after years of
stagnation and has managed to reduce the country's endemic poverty.
Recent opinion surveys show him getting the support of up to 70
percent of the population.
`Sarkisian has a clear advantage ... and he doesn't need
destabilization,' said Stepan Grigorian, an independent political
analyst.
He said Sarkisian is poised to win the vote anyway, but if he performs
worse than initially expected, that could give more leverage to fringe
groups. `That could make the president more dependent on such marginal
groups,' Grigorian said.
Sarkisian's closest rival is Raffi Hovanessian, a former foreign
minister who has campaigned on populist promises to sharply increase
state salaries and pensions.
Hovanessian also has pledged to recognize the independence of
Nagorno-Karabakh, a stance favored by nationalists. The
Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and some adjacent territory have
been under the control of Armenian troops and local ethnic Armenian
forces since a six-year war ended with a truce in 1994.
Armenia has faced severe economic challenges caused by the closing of
its borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey because of the conflict and
international efforts to mediate a settlement have produced no result.
Sarkisian, like his predecessors, has stopped short of recognizing the
territory as independent.
At the same time, he has taken a tough stance on other foreign policy
issues, pushing strongly for international recognition that the
killings of some 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915
constituted genocide. Turkey has furiously opposed that.
Armenian Parliament Speaker Ovik Abramian, who visited the wounded
candidate in the hospital, said Friday that the attack was a `blow to
the Armenian statehood' and that the election could now be delayed.
The nation's election chief, however, has not commented on the
possibility.
Armenia's constitution requires the vote to be postponed for two weeks
if one of the candidates is unable to take part due to circumstances
beyond his control. A further 40-day delay beyond that is also
possible.
`I have no intention to seek a 40-day delay as I realize that we are
in a process that needs to be finalized,' Airikian said in televised
remarks from the hospital. `But I will have to choose the option of
postponing the vote by 15 days.'
Yerevan Clinical Hospital's chief doctor, Ara Minasian, said Airikian
was being treated for a single gunshot wound and remained in stable
condition. Doctors successfully operated to remove a bullet in his
shoulder.
Airikian, an also-ran in three previous Armenian presidential
elections, was a dissident during Soviet times. He was first arrested
by the KGB when he was 20, and spent 17 years in prison, according to
his party.
In 1987, after Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev launched his liberal
reforms, Airikian created the National Self-Determination Party. When
the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan erupted the next year, he
accused the Soviet authorities of stirring up violence and was evicted
from the country.
Airikian soon returned to his homeland and in the 1990s had senior
positions in Armenia's parliament and government.
On Friday, Airikian blamed ex-Soviet KGB agents of launching the attack.
`I would sincerely say that I see the style of special services of a
foreign state, which haunted me for so long, not Russia, but its
predecessor,' Airikian said. He added that they could have been
worried by his push for Armenia's closer integration into Europe.
Armenia has an economic and security pact with Russia and also hosts a
Russian military base.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland condemned the
shooting of Airikian, adding that Washington expects the Armenian
government to ensure a fair vote in line with the law.
`If he's unable to campaign, we obviously call on Armenians to settle
this constitutionally in a way that assures that these elections go
forward in a way that is free and fair and protects the rights of all
candidates,' she said.
____
Bradley Klapper contributed to this report from Washington.