ANC Coordinator and Head of OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission discuss pre-electoral situation in Armenia

• Saturday, February 9, 19:55

 Coordinator of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) Levon Zurabyan and representative of the ANC Central Office Vladimir Karapetyan met with Head of the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission Heidi Tagliavini on Feb 8. The ANC press service told ArmInfo that during the meeting Zurabyan said that the
forthcoming presidential election in Armenia can be considered failed given the numerous inaccuracies in the voter lists, as well as the large-scale violations by the incumbent authorities. 

Zurabyan said that the bribery and intimidation of voters, use of administrative resources, multiple voting, persecution against the entrepreneurs financing the opposition have led to the fact that three parliamentarian forces, which obtained a total of 650 thsd votes during the May 2012 election, have to refuse to run for presidency, and the competition at the election is minimized.  

To note, the forces that have refused to run in the presidential race are the Armenian National Congress, Prosperous Armenia Party and ARF Dashnaktsutyun. To note, the following candidates will run for presidency on Feb 18: incumbent President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, former Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan, leader of Heritage Party Raffi Hovhannisian, leader of Self-Determination Union Paruyr Hayrikyan, former Foreign Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh Arman Melikyan, political expert Andreas Ghukasyan and folklore specialist Vartan Sedrakyan.