Armenian president accuses opposition of coup attempt
18:30 | 23/ 02/ 2008
YEREVAN, February 23 (RIA Novosti) – Armenia’s incumbent president
described on Saturday opposition protests against the results of
Tuesday’s polls in the country, which elected Prime Minister Serzh
Sarkisyan its new leader, as a coup attempt.
European and CIS observers described the February 19 polls, where
Sarkisyan received 52.86% of the vote, as complying with international
democratic standards. However, supporters of Sarkisyan’s nearest rival,
Armenia’s first president Levon-Ter-Petrosyan, who garnered 21.5%, have
refused to recognize the elections as valid. The opposition has been
rallying in central Yerevan since Wednesday, calling for new elections.
"Our action will be resolute and sharp, aimed at maintaining stability
and constitutional order in the country," President Robert Kocharyan
said, adding that the country’s stability could never be "a bargaining
issue."
The outgoing president held three separate meetings on Saturday with
chiefs of the country’s police, Army and security service. He
complained that the events in Armenia were aimed at creating tensions
and regretted the absence in the country of "an important element of
democracy," a culture to admit failure.
Senior police officers assured the president that the police had enough
capacity to neutralize provocations and maintain law and order in the
republic.
Earlier on Saturday, Kocharyan decreed to dismiss Gagik Dzhangiryan,
deputy prosecutor general, who expressed his support to Ter-Petrosyan
at an opposition rally on Friday.
Meanwhile, the European Union and Washington have issued statements to
congratulate Armenia on "competitive" presidential polls.
"We congratulate the people of Armenia on the active and competitive
presidential election of February 19 and note the preliminary
assessment of the OSCE’s Office of Democratic Institutions and Human
Rights (ODIHR) and Parliamentary Assembly that the election was ‘mostly
in line with OSCE and Council of Europe commitments and standards for
democratic elections,’" State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey
said on Friday.
However, Washington pointed to certain problems with electoral
procedures and urged the Armenian government "investigate all
allegations of irregularities, and implement steps to improve future
elections."
The EU Presidency welcomed "the genuine efforts that were made to
address the shortcomings in previous elections" and called Armenia’s
elections "an important test for democracy."
The EU also expressed concerns about the electoral process and pushed
for further improvements "to address the remaining challenges."