RULING PARTY LEADS IN ARMENIA’S PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION

People’s Daily Online, China
May 14 2007

The ruling Republican Party of Armenia, headed by Prime Minister Serzh
Sarkissian, won a leading 32.89 percent of votes in parliamentary
elections, the Interfax news agency reported on Sunday.

Four other parties, the Prosperous Armenia party, Dashnaktsutyun,
the Orinats Yerkir party and the Heritage Party, also crossed
the five-percent threshold of votes required to enter parliament,
according to Central Elections Commission Chairman Garegin Azarian.

Nearly 1.4 million of the more than 2.3 million registered voters
in the South Caucasian country went to the polls on Saturday and all
the ballots have been counted, according to Azarian.

A pro-president coalition is expected to be formed in parliament
involving the Republican Party, the Prosperous Armenia party and
Dashnaktsutyun. The Orinats Yerkir party and the Heritage Party are
in opposition to the government, Interfax said.

The election, regarded as a prelude to the presidential election
next spring, was monitored by hundreds of observers from 53 local
organizations and six international missions.

The election generally complied with international democratic
standards, Interfax quoted Boris Frlec as saying on behalf of European
observers.

Other observers from the Commonwealth of Independent States have said
that the election was free and fair.

A total of 1,364 candidates from more than 20 political parties
competed for 131 parliament seats.

The Republic of Armenia was founded in 1991 when it gained independence
from the former Soviet Union. The country’s incumbent president Robert
Kocharyan won a second five-year term in 2003.