SUPREME BODY OF ARF DASHNAKTSOUTYUN IS NOT GOING TO DISPUTE FINAL RESULTS OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AND WISHES SUCCESS TO NEWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN

arminfo
2008-02-25 19:32:00

ArmInfo. The Supreme Body of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
Dashnaktsoutyun is not going to dispute the final results of the
past presidential election and wishes success to the newly elected
president Serzh Sargsyan, says the party’s statement.

The past presidential election has become one more test for Armenia in
its way to democratization. We can and must pass it. The party regrets
that there was an atmosphere of mutual hostility and hatred during
the electoral campaign. The society was artificially polarized. The
presidential candidate from ARFD Vahan Hovhannissyan did his best
to keep the race within normal course so the country could develop
in healthy atmosphere. However, his approach did not receive wide
support. Hovhannissyan showed a firm and well-balanced position
throughout the race. The voting process saw lots of violations. The
supporters of the favorite-candidates openly bribed voters, stuffed
ballot papers and even used force. The recount was also inappropriate.

According to the statement’s authors, as a result, the citizens assess
the election ambiguously, and public tension is observed today. The
country should suppress the post-electoral dissociation and restore
the atmosphere of tolerance. In this situation ARFD is ready to play
the role of a bridge.

Summing up the reports from all regions and polling stations and
taking into account the data published by the Central Electoral
Commission and the positive reaction of international structures,
the ARFD Supreme Body took a decision not to dispute the election
returns and to wish good luck to newly-elected Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan. At the same time, remaining faithful to the Agreement
on Cooperation signed in 2007, the party expresses its willingness
to renunciate its ministerial portfolios and appeals to the political
coalition to suspend the cooperation.

The statement also expresses demand to investigate all the facts
of electoral violations and punish the falsifiers, it condemns the
attempts to change the power by force, as well as the application of
force against displeased people. Immediate measures should be taken to
consolidate the international image of Armenia, an electoral system
without criminal elements and use of administrative resource should
be formed, real pluralism and freedom of speech, as well as full
possibilities for the opposition’s participation in the political
life of the country should be ensured in Armenia, the government
should be able to lead the country along the path of democratic and
socio-economic development, the ARFD Supreme Body’s statement says.