Lragir, Armenia
Jan 14 2008

VAZGEN MANUKYAN’S ELECTION OFFICE RESPONSE TO LEVON TER-PETROSYAN

"During the news conference on January 11 Levon Ter-Petrosyan said
answering the question of reporters that he will not break fences and
beat the president of the parliament hinting at the popular movement
against presidential election in 1996.

The popular movement of 1996 was the consequence of the presidential
election falsified by the ruling regime.

The people and the political forces participating in the movement
want to live in a democratic country and stand up for their votes
when the regime tampers their votes.

When Levon Ter-Petrosyan condemns the uprising in 1996, his
strictures are not only against Vazgen Manukyan but also a fair
election to shape a democratic government.

The Constitutional Court shaped in accordance with the Constitution
establishing autocracy did not accept that the election of 1996 was
rigged, like it later denied that the presidential election of 2003
and the parliamentary election of 2007 were falsified.

As to the percentages concocted after the falsified elections of
1996, 1998, 2003, which are ascribed to Vazgen Manukyan, Levon
Ter-Petrosyan who manipulates them should admit that the votes
ascribed to father and son Demirchyans in 1998 and 2003 are true.
Besides, although he stated that all the elections held after him
were falsified, he nevertheless congratulated Robert Kocharyan in
1998.

Finally, nobody doubts that Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s resignation in 1998
was the consequence of the election of 1996. If the official results
of the election of 1996 had been true, and Levon Ter-Petrosyan had
received the officially announced number of votes, people would
hardly have accepted his resignation with silent agreement.

Vazgen Manukyan’s election office states that one of the points of
his election program is the adoption of a new Constitution which will
enable mechanisms to prevent election fraud, ensure the independence
of the judicial power from the executive and prevalence of justice
over the will of the person at the top of government. It will enable
us to rid of the regime holding on to power through the tradition of
the Constitution of 1995 and take the track for development.

Vazgen Manukyan’s election office’