Today.Az » Politics » Nearly complete results show Sarkisian winning Armenia presidential election
20 February 2008 [13:02] - Today.Az
Nearly complete preliminary results show Prime Minister Serge Sarkisian winning Armenia's presidential vote in the first round, election officials said Wednesday.
With ballots from more than 99 per cent of precincts counted, Sarkisian had 52 per cent of the vote, tallies announced by the Central Election Commission showed. His main opponent, Levon Ter-Petrosian, received just 21 per cent of the vote.
The victory, however, was marred by allegations from Ter-Petrosian that authorities rigged the vote and harassed his supporters. He asserted he is in fact the victor and called on supporters to rally in the Armenian capital Yerevan on Wednesday, to protest against the results and celebrate his win.
A candidate needed to garner more than 50 per cent of the vote to avoid a runoff.
Observers from a Moscow-led group of ex-Soviet republics, as well as from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe were monitoring the vote and the OSCE was to release its assessment later Wednesday.
The allegations of fraud and threats of mass protests raised concerns over instability in the volatile, strategic country at the juncture of the energy-rich Caspian Sea region and southern Europe and bordering Iran.
Sarkisian and Ter-Petrosian - Armenia's first president after the Soviet collapse - were the two top contenders vying to lead the South Caucasus country, where more than a quarter of its 3.2 million people live in poverty.
The election campaign was dominated by the country's economic revival and efforts to resolve the status of Nagorno-Karabakh - a mountainous region in neighbouring Azerbaijan that has been under Armenian control since a ceasefire ended six years of fighting in 1994.
Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia on Sunday added an element of uncertainty for Armenians, many of whom see clear analogies between Kosovo and Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Armenian government says the region should be recognized as a sovereign state, while Azerbaijan says it will never cede its territory.
Armenia experienced an economic collapse after the Soviet breakup and in the face of blockades by Azerbaijan and its key ally Turkey, which is outraged by efforts to win international recognition of the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks in the First World War-era as genocide.
The blockades have hamstrung Armenia's economy and cut it out of lucrative regional energy and transport projects.
The United States, whose large Armenian diaspora has a strong lobby in Congress, has poured some $1.7 billion in aid into the country since 1991, encouraging economic and political liberalization.
Armenia is eligible for millions more in U.S. aid but a questionable election could jeopardize Washington's support.
/The Canadian Press/
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