NINE CANDIDATES REGISTERED FOR ARMENIAN PRESIDENTIAL RACE
by Natalia Leshchenko
Global Insight
Jan 21 2008
The Central Election Commission (CEC) has closed the registration of
candidates for the 19 February presidential election. Nine people
who met the signature collection and financial deposit ($26US,000)
requirements were put on the list: Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan,
deputy parliament speaker Vahan Hovannisian, former President
Lev Ter-Petrossian, former parliament speaker Artur Baghdasarian
and two other opposition leaders, Artashes Geghamian and Vazgen
Manukian. The businessman and TV commentator Tigran Karapetian,
university lecturer Aram Harutiunian, and Nagorno-Karabakh’s former
permanent representative to Armenia Arman Melikian, are also on the
list, Radio Liberty reports.
Significance:The presidential race officially kicks off today. While
the ruling elite has put forward one candidate, Serzh Sargsyan,
the opposition did not agree on one figure–with at least four
opposition candidates running, that is highly likely to split any
anti-establishment vote. The opposition would not be helped by
independent polls either, which are used to offset and verify the
official results, as they saw the polls as biased in favour of the
government and asked the United States, which funded the survey,
to stop polling. The responsibility of estimating the quality of the
election will thus rest primarily with the international observers
who will be attending the presidential election.