DASHINK TO CONTEST ELECTIONS ALONE

Armenpress
Feb 14 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 14, ARMENPRESS: A senior member of the Dashink
(Alliance) party, set up by a former commander of Nagorno-Karabakh
army Samvel Babayan, said today the party will contest the May 12
parliamentary elections in Armenia alone.

Andranik Tevanian, a member of the party’s governing board, said
the party’s slate will be topped by Samvel Babayan who will also run
from a single mandate constituency in Goris region. Tevanian said the
party has skilled members who are ready to contest the polls from all
41 single-mandate constituencies, but he added that they will step
aside if more prominent opposition members decide to run from them.

Tevanian said Dashink has developed a technology how to fight against
vote rigging, but said its efficiency could be judged only after
the polls.

"Dashink stands ready to join effort with any political party to
ensure clean vote,’ Tevanian stressed.

He said if the party manages to surmount only the five percent
threshold the elected members may l lay down their mandates
because with that number of seats the party will not be able to
work effectively.

Babayan founded his party in 2005 November, just a year after his
unexpected release from prison where he was serving a 14- year term
for allegedly masterminding a botched March 2000 attempt on the life
of Karabakh leader Arkady Ghukasian. Babayan never pleaded guilty to
the charges.