NO CANDIDATE FOR ARMENIAN PRESIDENCY QUITS THE RACE
Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS Presidential Bulletin
February 11, 2008
Russia
All nine candidates for the Armenian presidency will continue
running in the electoral race, head of the Armenian Central Elections
Commission (CEC) Garegin Azarian told a news conference in Yerevan
late last week.
None of the candidates disqualified themselves by the deadline
stipulated by the Electoral Code and none sent a relevant application
to the CEC. The deadline was 6 p.m. local time on February 9, he said.
Press secretary of the Armenian CEC Tatev Oganian told Interfax that
the form of ballots was approved at a CEC meeting. The candidates
are sorted by name on the ballot.
The first on the list is leader of the Orinats Yerkir party Artur
Bagdasarian, National Unity party leader Artashes Gegamian, People’s
Party leader Tigran Karapetian, National Accord party leader Aram
Arutyunian, National Assembly Deputy Speaker and member of the
Dashnaktsutiun party bureau Vaan Ovannisian, former Prime Minister and
leader of the opposition National Democratic Union Vazgen Manukian,
and former advisor to the president of Nagorno-Karabakh Armen
Melikian,,Prime Minister and Republican Party leader Serzh Sargsyan,
and former Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrosian.
A ballot lacks an ‘against all’ entry, Oganian said. A Yerevan
publishing house will begin printing electoral ballots on Sunday. All
2.39 million ballots will be printed by February 16.
Meanwhile, commenting on the situation that a candidate has filed
a claim at the Supreme Court demanding to postpone the day of the
elections, Azarian said that if the Supreme Court rules to postpone
the day of the elections, the process of printing ballots will be
suspended.