LARISA ALAVERDIAN: ONLY ARMAN MELIKIAN AND VAZGEN MANUKIAN AMONG PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES TRY TO INTRODUCE ELECTION CAMPAIGN CULTURE

Noyan Tapan
Jan 31, 2008

YEREVAN, JANUARY 31, NOYAN TAPAN. Only two among the presidential
candidates, Arman Melikian and Vazgen Manukian try to introduce
culture of election campaign. Larisa Alaverdian, a member of the RA NA
Zharangutiun (Heritage) faction, the first RA Ombudsperson, expressed
such an opinion at the January 31 meeting with journalists. In her
words, the election campaigns of another two candidates, Vahan
Hovhannisian and Artur Baghdasarian are "to the maximum extent
partially" within the limits of the culture of preelection campaign,
and the election campaigns of the other candidates are very far from
that culture, the downfall of which started from 1995.

In response to journalists’ questions L. Alaverdian said that
Zharangutiun has studied the list of party representatives in polling
station commissions appointed by party representative in electoral
district N 23 Arnak Sahakian and found out that they have never
been members of the party or even if its apologists. The majority of
them are representatives of pro-governmental parties, in particular,
RPA. At present they work in the direction of preventing inclusion
of persons having nothing in common with the Zharangutiun party into
polling station commissions. "One of Zharangutiun’s members acted
dishonestly and by doing it not only deviated from the commitments
assumed by him, but also violated the law, and we should struggle
against it," L. Alaverdian said stressing that the above mentioned
person was expelled from the party.

L. Alaverdian considers that society should do its best for the
RA President to be elected by two tours, as in case of one tour we
will have "a picture not corresponding to the attitude of a large
part of society" to the authorities. L. Alaverdian also considers
dangerous the process, through which the status of persons having
adopted dual citizenship in he illegal way is legalized: as a result,
the dual citizens, who will appear in Armenia on the day of voting,
will take part in voting. In her words, the problem also has a second
side: what legal consequence the stipulation of the dual citizenship
will have in the other country, where the person has received dual
citizenship illegally. L. Alaverdian considers as gross violation of
human rights deprivation of RA citizens being outside Armenia at the
moment of voting of the legal right of going to polls.

Larisa Alaverdian considers the rumors on appointing Zharangutiun
Chairman Raffi Hovannisian Yerevan Mayor as "a result of nightmares:"
there has never been and will never be a proposal on including
R. Hovhannisian in power.