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Armenia: Is Election Date A Roll Of The Dice?

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  • Armenia: Is Election Date A Roll Of The Dice?

    ARMENIA: IS ELECTION DATE A ROLL OF THE DICE?

    February 8, 2013 - 2:20pm, by Marianna Grigoryan

    With less than ten days to go before Armenia's February 18 presidential
    vote, Armenians still do not know for sure when, exactly, the election
    will take place.

    The reason is presidential candidate Paruyr Hayrikian, the victim
    of a January 31 shooting attack. By law, Hayrikian can ask the
    Constitutional Court to postpone the vote for two weeks to give him
    time to recover his health; a request he had previously indicated he
    would make.

    But on Tuesday, he decided against such a move. Then, late on Thursday,
    he changed his mind again.

    At last word, Hayrikian intended to file the request on February 8,
    but a spokesperson for the Constitutional Court told EurasiaNet.org
    late in the day that it still had not heard from him. The Court will
    remain open over the weekend in case Hayrikian stands by his latest
    decision and requests a delay in the elections.

    Hayrikian's earlier surprise decision to not mind his damaged
    collarbone, but carry on with his campaign had sparked speculation
    that he had made a deal with the government, but the candidate angrily
    dismissed such claims.

    More surprises, though, came today, when the National Security
    Service unexpectedly reported that it had arrested two 40-something
    suspects, Khachatur Pogosian and Samvel Arutiunian, in the shooting
    and that both had "confessed to the crime." The suspects are said to be
    "illegally residing in Armenia," and allegedly have a criminal record
    for drug dealing. Their supposed motivation for the attack has not
    been released.

    Yet, even here, suspicions are not laid to rest. The fact that
    Hayrikian had claimed that his assailants had Slavic, rather than
    Armenian, features added further to misgivings about the government's
    handling of the case.

    One representative of Hayrikian's campaign office, though, claimed
    that the candidate had deliberately made up that description "so that
    the villains could feel secure." He declined to go into details,
    Aravot.am reported. Whichever twist this story takes next could be
    anyone's guess. In the meantime, noted human-rights activist Artur
    Sakunts, the doubts are running strong that anyone will be able to take
    "the case to a new level . . . "

    http://www.eurasianet.org/node/66532



    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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