Reuters, UK
May 13 2007

Pro-presidential parties win fair Armenia election
13 May 2007 17:50:50 GMT
Source: Reuters

(Adds EU reaction)

By Hasmik Lazarian and Margarita Antidze

YEREVAN, May 13 (Reuters) – Pro-presidential parties have won a large
majority in Armenia’s parliamentary elections, the country’s election
commission said on Sunday, a vote Western monitors described as a
democratic improvement.

The winner of the election — viewed as a dress rehearsal for the
presidential vote next year — was Prime Minister Serzh Sarksyan who
heads the Republican party, which will control around 40 percent of
the 131 seats in parliament.

Sarksyan is a 52-year-old former welder and a trusted lieutenant of
Armenia’s President Robert Kocharyan who steps down as leader next
year. Sarksyan has said he would enter a presidential election if his
party asked him to.

"This election was the best election in the history of Armenia and
has created a good base for the presidential elections next year,"
Armen Ashotyan, a Republican member of parliament, told Reuters.

The Republican party’s two allies will control around 35 percent of
the new parliament, the election commission said.

Former Soviet Armenia is Russia’s main ally in the Caucasus. It
nestles on the southern edge of the region which has emerged as a
major transit route for oil from Central Asia to Europe, and also
borders Turkey and Iran.

International observers had urged Armenia to improve the fairness of
its parliamentary elections, saying the 2003 vote fell well short of
democratic standards.

The European Union presidency said: "The presidency welcomes the fact
that, compared to previous elections, significant progress has been
made."

"Looking ahead to the presidential elections due to be held at the
beginning of 2008, the presidency calls on Armenia to investigate and
resolve the procedural problems which still exist, particularly those
concerning vote-counting but also the isolated cases of
irregularities which were observed.

"The Presidency of the European Union is very much in favour of
intensifying cooperation with Armenia," it said.

RALLY

Sarksyan had also pushed for improvements and at a news briefing on
Sunday Western monitors said standards had risen.

"The Armenian elections were an improvement from previous elections,"
said Tone Tingsgaard, from the Organisation for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) monitoring team.

"Some issues remain and more is needed to consolidate this
democracy."

Observers highlighted the close relationship between businesses and
politicians as a concern and an inadequate electoral complaints
procedure. One of the pro-presidential parties is run by a
millionaire businessman.

A fringe opposition group which wants to start proceedings to impeach
the president, because it says he has failed the country with his
policies, did not win enough votes to clear the 5 percent barrier and
enter parliament.

On Sunday a few thousand of its supporters gathered in central
Yerevan to complain that the election had been rigged, despite the
OSCE’s comments.

"There was no election yesterday, there was just a coup d’etat,"
Nikol Pashinyan, one of the leaders of the Impeachment party, told
the crowd. "The organisers of the election should be punished."

Impeachment supporters and police had clashed in the election run up
but on Sunday the streets of Armenia’s capital were quiet.

Simmering tensions burst to the surface last month when gunmen tried
to kill a senior member of the Republican party and two blasts ripped
through the offices of another pro-presidential party.

The violence has revived memories of a 1999 shootout in parliament
that killed the speaker and the prime minister.