Khachik Manoukyan, a deputy from the 15th constituency, renounces his
mandate on principle
ArmInfo
2007-06-10 17:03:00
Khachik Manoukyan, a representative of the Republican Party of Armenia
and the owner of the Max Group company, who has been elected deputy of
the Armenian Parliament at the 15th constituency, renounced his mandate
of the deputy and tried to explain the reasons of his decision at a
press-conference, Saturday.
To note, right after the session of the Central Electoral Commission
when Kh.Manoukyan’s renunciation of his mandate was announced, he told
journalists over the phone that he had submitted no such an application
and he was unaware of the fact that the CEC was discussing the issue of
his renunciation of the mandate. However, today, on June 9,
Kh.Manoukyan said that he had to write an application for renunciation
of his mandate as there were rumors that the election at the 15th
constituency was held with violations. He noted that the violations at
the 15th constituency were made by other candidates. "I informed the
district electoral commission about these violations. However, voters
doubt of my victory and I decided to prove that the mandate of the
deputy is not an aim in itself for me. I want the election at the 15th
constituency to be held without any violations, and let the candidate
with a clear-cut victory be elected," he said.
He also noted that he could have entered the Parliament on the RPA’s
proportional list, too, however, the mandate under the
first-past-the-post system was a priority for him. "Therefore, I made
up my mind to renounce the mandate on the RPA’s proportional list and
try to run at the 15th constituency again," Kh.Manoukyan said. He
emphasized that this time he won’t admit any fraud. But Kh.Manoukyan
failed to properly explain why he told journalists that he had
submitted no application for renunciation of his mandate and that he
didn’t’ know the CEC was discussing that issue. The most interesting
thing is that the application was submitted not by Kh.Manoukyan
personally, but it was found in the CEC’s mail box.
To note, Kh.Manoukyan’s main rival at the 15th constituency is
Mnatsakan Mnatsakanyan, a representative of the Prosperous Armenia
party and the Mayor of the town of Talin. The CEC has not et fixed the
date of the reelection at the 15 constituency, but it is to be held
within 80 days after cancellation of the election returns at this
constituency.