ARMENIA: Former Armenian presidential candidate Raffi Hovannisian began a hunger strike in Armenian capital Yerevan calling on President Serzh Sarksyan to resign, accusing him of rigging his re-election last month

Record ID: 341099

  • Title: ARMENIA: Former Armenian presidential candidate Raffi Hovannisian began a hunger strike in Armenian capital Yerevan calling on President Serzh Sarksyan to resign, accusing him of rigging his re-election last month
  • Date: 11th March 2013
  • Summary: YEREVAN, ARMENIA (MARCH 11, 2013) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SECOND-PLACE FINISHER IN ARMENIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AND OPPOSITION HERITAGE PARTY LEADER RAFFI HOVANNISIAN TALKING TO SUPPORTERS AND MEDIA DURING HUNGER STRIKE HOVANNISIAN SURROUNDED BY GROUP OF PEOPLE (SOUNDBITE) (English) SECOND-PLACE FINISHER IN ARMENIA'S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AND OPPOSITION HE
  • Embargoed: 26th March 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Armenia
  • Country: Armenia
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAE16ZIAF7LHAK9GDF50B2UHEV0
  • Story Text: The second-place finisher in the Armenian presidential election has launched a hunger strike, saying on Monday (March 11) he decided to take the fight for the rights of Armenian people to the capital's central square and call on incumbent President Serzh Sarksyan to resign before his inauguration.
    Raffi Hovannisian, the leader of the opposition Heritage Party, got 37 percent of the vote in the Feb. 18 election, following Sarksyan, who was declared the victor with 58.6 percent of the vote. Following the poll, Hovannisian accused the president of having rigged the election and submitted a complaint to the Armenian Constitutional Court.

    "This is no longer a battle between Raffi and Serzh. It is a battle for the right of the Armenian people, and I have decided to take that right to Liberty Square and to say this is not a hunger strike, but a strike against fear, a strike against falsehood, a strike against lies, and we have to take those fears and lies and slanders outside of the psyche of the Armenian people," Hovannisian told Reuters during his first day of strike in the Yerevan square.
    Armenia's central election commission said last month there were no legal violations during the vote that could have influenced results.
    Hovannisian, a U.S.-born former foreign minister of the landlocked ex-Soviet republic, submitted 70 complaints to the electoral commission, which said earlier this month that the documents were based neither on facts nor legal evidence. The constitutional court started considering Hovannisian's complaint over the poll results on Monday.
    Hovannisian said he would respect the court's ruling.

    "I will be here on the square all the way through the constitutional court ruling this week, and should Mr. Sarksyan not have the political courage and moral fortitude to submit his resignation, I will be here on April 9 as well to celebrate in one way or another the inauguration of a new Armenia," Hovannisian said and sipped water from a bottle.
    International election monitors said the poll was an improvement from previous ones but that it still lacked real competition after some of Sarksyan's adversaries decided not to run, fearing the results.
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