DEFEATED CANDIDATE ENDS HUNGER STRIKE
By Astghik Bedevian
Radio Liberty, Czech rep.
May 21 2007
A former world boxing champion who unsuccessfully ran for Armenia’s
parliament ended a five-day hunger strike on Monday after Prime
Minister Serzh Sarkisian promised to look into his allegations of
vote rigging.
Israel Hakobkokhian, who had successfully represented the Soviet
Union in amateur boxing competitions throughout the 1980s, stood as
an independent in a single-member constituency in Yerevan’s southern
Shengavit suburb. The election there was controversially won by Grigor
Markarian, a businessman backed by Sarkisian’s governing Republican
Party of Armenia (HHK).
Both Hakobkokhian and Markarian’s main challenger, Heghine Bisharian
of the opposition Orinats Yerkir Party, refused to concede defeat,
alleging widespread vote buying and other violations. Bisharian
reportedly plans to dispute the official results and demand their
annulment in the court.
Hakobkokhian, who finished a distant third in the race, went on a
hunger strike outside the Central Election Commission building with
the same demands last Wednesday. He refused to end the protest despite
CEC Chairman Garegin Azarian’s arguments that only Armenian courts
have the authority to annul election results in majoritarian districts.
The boxer-turned-politician, known for his straightforward and
eccentric rhetoric, warned that he will starve himself to death
unless he is visited by Sarkisian. He claimed that local government
and police officials in Shengavit allegedly involved in vote rigging
told him that they acted on the Armenian premier’s orders.
Sarkisian paid a surprise visit to an exhausted but defiant
Hakobkokhian early in the afternoon, embracing the ex-champion and
asking him to end the hunger strike. The HHK leader declined a comment
as he left the scene several minutes later.
"He said he will sit down and talk with me after I take some rest,"
Hakobkokhian told RFE/RL. "I’m grateful to him for not putting my
life at risk."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
