ARMENPRESS

HERITAGE DECIDES AGAINST CONTESTING PRESIDENTIAL VOTE

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS: The opposition
Heritage party, lead by the U.S.-born Raffi
Hovhanesian, who was Armenia’s first post-Soviet
foreign minister, decided today against fielding its
candidate for the February 19 presidential election.
The decision was approved by the party’s governing
board.
Raffi Hovhanesian, expected to be nominated as a
candidate, was barred from contesting the February 19
election because he does not have a ten year-long
Armenian citizenship, a constitutional requirement for
all contenders.
He was given Armenian citizenship in 2001 only, but
he says his citizenship should be backdated to the
first year of Armenia’s independence, because his
citizenship applications had for years been illegally
ignored by president Robert Kocharian and his
predecessor Levon Ter-Petrosian.
The press office of the party said to Armenpress
today that the governing board will make a final
decision on who to support in the election only after
the Central Election Commission finishes the official
registration of all candidates.
The governing board will also scrutinize the
election programs of all candidates to back up its
choice.