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May 5 2013
Armenians vote in hotly-contested Yerevan mayor race
AFP
Armenians in the capital Yerevan voted Sunday in a mayoral election
that the country's weakened opposition hopes would see them claw back
momentum from President Serzh Sarkisian reelection.
Several opposition parties are taking part in the vote for mayor of
Yerevan after they failed to put up candidates for the presidential
poll in February.
"I voted for... the political party that has a clear idea of the role
of the mayor's office in the political life and system of government
in Armenia," Sarkisian told journalists after casting his ballot.
Sarkisian, a shrewd former military officer in power since 2008, won
the presidential poll in the small country nestled in the Caucasus
mountains between Turkey and Iran with more than 58 percent of the
vote.
The February election was seen as an improvement on past polls, even
though it lacked genuine competition, after the vote that brought
Sarkisian to power in 2008 ended in clashes between police and
supporters of the defeated opposition candidate in which 10 people
died.
Opposition leaders have attempted to turn Sunday's vote in Yerevan --
where over a third of Armenia's roughly 3.2 million inhabitants live
-- into a referendum on Sarkisian's February victory, after a spate of
street protests fizzled out.
Analysts have said that Sarkisian's Republican Party remained the
favourite to retain control over Yerevan and cautioned that the
opposition was trying to inflate the importance of Sunday's polls.
Preliminary results are expected Monday.
mkh-del/zak/boc
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130505/armenians-vote-hotly-contested-yerevan-mayor-race
May 5 2013
Armenians vote in hotly-contested Yerevan mayor race
AFP
Armenians in the capital Yerevan voted Sunday in a mayoral election
that the country's weakened opposition hopes would see them claw back
momentum from President Serzh Sarkisian reelection.
Several opposition parties are taking part in the vote for mayor of
Yerevan after they failed to put up candidates for the presidential
poll in February.
"I voted for... the political party that has a clear idea of the role
of the mayor's office in the political life and system of government
in Armenia," Sarkisian told journalists after casting his ballot.
Sarkisian, a shrewd former military officer in power since 2008, won
the presidential poll in the small country nestled in the Caucasus
mountains between Turkey and Iran with more than 58 percent of the
vote.
The February election was seen as an improvement on past polls, even
though it lacked genuine competition, after the vote that brought
Sarkisian to power in 2008 ended in clashes between police and
supporters of the defeated opposition candidate in which 10 people
died.
Opposition leaders have attempted to turn Sunday's vote in Yerevan --
where over a third of Armenia's roughly 3.2 million inhabitants live
-- into a referendum on Sarkisian's February victory, after a spate of
street protests fizzled out.
Analysts have said that Sarkisian's Republican Party remained the
favourite to retain control over Yerevan and cautioned that the
opposition was trying to inflate the importance of Sunday's polls.
Preliminary results are expected Monday.
mkh-del/zak/boc
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130505/armenians-vote-hotly-contested-yerevan-mayor-race