CENTRAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION TO BE LED BY REPRESENTATIVE OF RA PRESIDENT

Noyan Tapan
Aug 06 2007

YEREVAN, AUGUST 6, NOYAN TAPAN. The newly-composed Central Electoral
Commission assumed its competences on August 6. Garegin Azarian,
the representative of the RA President, was elected Chairman of the
Commission, Haroutiun Shahbazian, a representative of the "Bargavatch
Hayastan" (Prosperous Armenia) party, was elected Deputy Chairman
of the Commission, and Abram Bakhchagulian, a representative of the
Republican Party of Armenia, was elected Secretary of the Commission
in the maiden sitting, which took place on the same day. The latters
were the only people nominated for the above-mentioned posts.

It has been the third time since 2003 that Garegin Azarian was
elected Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission. He was born in
1961. He has graduated from the Polytechnical Institute of Yerevan
(University of Architecture, at present). He is an engineer-electrician
by profession and a second-class justice advisor.

Haroutiun Shahbazian was born in 1976. He has graduated from
the Yerevan State University of Economics. He is an economist by
profession. He worked in the municipality of Yerevan, in the RA
Ministry of Energy, and in the "Multi-Group" concern. He was the Head
of the "Gagik Tsarukian" charitable fund before being appointed member
of the Central Electoral Commission.

Abram Bakhchagulian was born in 1977. He has graduated from the
State University of Economics of Armenia. He has been a candidate of
economics and is teaching in the same university. Between 2003 and 2005
he worked as assistant to the RA Prime Minister. He was the Deputy
Chairman of the former personnel of the Central Electoral Commission
between 2005 and 2007. He has been a member of the Republican Party
of Armenia since 2002.

It should be mentioned that according to the amendments of the RA
Electoral Code, the first sitting of the Central Electoral Commission
was conducted by Hamlet Abrahamian, the Secretary of the former Central
Electoral Commission and a representative of the ARF Dashnaktsutiun,
who was the oldest member of the Commission. He wished success to the
newly-elected management "in this very difficult but, at the same time,
thankless task."