MARCH 1 WAS AN EVERYDAY ACT OF HOOLIGANISM?

/3/march-1
02:46 pm | September 03, 2009 | Politics

Representatives of European countries will exchange the electoral
experience of their countries for three days within the framework
of the annual conference organized by the "Electoral Authorities of
Europe" association entitled "Judicial Defense of the Electoral Right"
being held in Yerevan.

The guests were welcomed by NA Chairman Hovik Abrahamyan. "Nobody wants
to lose in the elections. Many people are very tempted to dispute
the results of the elections whenever they lose in the political
struggle. There can’t be two truths when we talk about political
parties and in these conditions, the judicial branch of government is
the only body that can give a final and indisputable conclusion on the
political parties competing against each other," said Hovik Abrahamyan.

It is hard to say how much the speech by the association’s secretary
general related to Hovik Abrahamyan’s welcoming remarks, but Zoltan
Totan started his speech by stating that the EAE is an independent,
non-governmental organization.

"No government can have an impact on us, but we can’t support every
government in holding free and fair elections. Our slogan is: "Not
the power of bullets, but ballots".

Hovik Abrahamyan broke the silence in the hall with his applause and
left after one or two minutes.

A press conference was foreseen during today’s conference headed by
president of the RA Central Electoral Commission Gagik Azaryan. Taking
into account that elections are accompanied with shootings, "A1+" asked
Azaryan if the current authorities came to power through "bullets".

"I don’t agree that our elections are held through shootings. Our
elections are held normally. True, we do see some hooligan acts in
some cases, but they are no different from other days when there
are elections and votes when you look at in general," said the CEC
President.

So, March 1 had nothing to do with the elections? Was it an everyday
act of hooliganism? In response, Azaryan said:

"You said that you were going to ask one question. This is already
the second question. Thank you."