ANC to appeal against by-election to parliament

The Armenian National Congress (ANC) would not recognize the outcomes of the additional election to the National Assembly of Armenia held on January 10 and intends to challenge its outcomes.

Nikol Pashinyan, editor-in-chief of oppositional Armenian newspaper "Aikakan Zhamanak" (Armenian Time), kept in custody under charges of mass disorders on March 1, 2008, failed to win the January 10 by-election. According to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Armenia, Pashinyan got 5053 votes out of 13,380 voters of the constituency: he is the runner-up. The winner was Ara Simonyan, nominee of the Party "National Reunion", who got 7622 votes. The third candidate - David Akopyan, leader of the Marxist Party of Armenia - got 299 votes.

"At the election on January 10 to the National Assembly of Armenia at the Constituency No. 10 of city of Yerevan, the authorities used threats and information blockade for achieving the victory of their candidate," Levon Zurabyan, coordinator of the ANC, has stated.

The ANC is ready to file a complaint, and if necessary - to address the European Court of Human Rights, the "PanARMENIAN.Net" writes.