ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER SAYS OPPOSITION’S DEFEAT DUE TO MISCALCULATIONS

Television of Armenia, Yerevan
18 May 07

Presenter] Allegations of vote-rigging made by political forces
that did not win seats in the National Assembly [parliament] are
untrue. These allegations are justification [for their defeat] rather
than an unbiased assessment of the election, Tigran Torosyan, the
speaker of the [outgoing] parliament has told journalists. Torosyan
said that the success of the Republican Party [of Armenia] was due
to its work in the past seven years.

[Torosyan, speaking at a news conference] The opposition failed
to assess the situation correctly and to take steps necessary for
reaching success. As a result, they lost a significant number of votes
– about 25 per cent – which later was distributed between the parties
[that run in the election], and the share [of votes] of the Republican
Party increased.