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A presidential election was held in Armenia on 18 February 2013. In the run-up to the elections, Armenian's first President Levon Ter-Petrosyan and one of the richest men in the country Gagik Tsarukyan, leader of the second largest parliamentary party Prosperous Armenia, withdrew from the race in December 2012. Many believed that no candidate would be able to challenge incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan, others stated that people see "absence of alternatives" and these factors caused great apathy among the public. On 31 January 2013, candidate Paruyr Hayrikyan was shot, but he recovered soon and urged two other main opposition candidates Raffi Hovannisian and Hrant Bagratyan to unite around a single opposition candidate, in order to defeat President Sargsyan. On 10 February, he appealed to the Constitutional Court with a request to postpone the election for 14 days and stated that he will take it back in case the three main opposition candidate decide to unite around a single candidate, but he withdrew the appeal the next day. The elections resulted in a victory for incumbent President Sargsyan, who received 59% of the vote. Hovannisian came second with 37%, while the other candidates earned less than 4% of the total vote. Sargsyan's main opponent Raffi Hovannisian claimed victory due to alleged electoral fraud. In days following the election, mass protests take place both in Yerevan (Freedom Square in particular) and other cities and towns throughout Armenia. Hovannisian urged Sargsyan to accept "people's victory" and concede his defeat. Hovannisian called the movement 'Barevolution', a portmanteau of 'barev' (բարև, 'hello') and 'revolution', referring to his habit of walking up to people and greeting them during the election campaign. Although many powers (including the US, Russia, France, Iran, Turkey) have congratulated Sargsyan on winning reelection, a number of influential politicians and parties in Armenia (including the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, former President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, former Prime Ministers Aram Sargsyan and Hrant Bagratyan who came in third, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Vartan Oskanian, MP Nikol Pashinyan, Andrias Ghukasyan who came in fifth during the election) have publicly stated that Hovannisian had won the election and the official results are a product of electoral fraud. On 10 March 2013, Hovannisian started a hunger strike in the Freedom Square. On 14 March 2013, the Constitutional Court of Armenia issued a verdict confirming the victory of President Sargsyan. Hovannisian ended his hunger strike on 31 March 2013. A clash occurred between Hovannisian's supporters and the police forces on Baghramyan Avenue. ==Background== The previous presidential election in Armenia was held in February 2008. Sargsyan was announced president with 52.8% of the popular vote. Armenia's first president, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, finished second with 21.5%. Immediately after the results were announced, thousands of Ter-Petrosyan's supporters gathered in Yerevan's Freedom Square to protest against electoral fraud. Eventually, the police and the army (allegedly) clashed with the protesters, resulting in the death of ten people (eight protesters and two policemen). Less than a year earlier—in May 2012—Armenians voted in the parliament election. The ruling Republican Party of Armenia of President Sargsyan won majority and formed the government. Besides RPA's close partner Rule of Law, the other four parties that won seats at the parliament, did not recognize the legitimacy of the May election. On December 15, 2012, the Republican Party officially nominated Serzh Sargsyan as the party candidate. In December 2012, the second and third largest parties represented in the National Assembly announced that they will not nominate candidates, nor will support candidates in the upcoming election. First on December 12, 2012, Prosperous Armenia, the second largest party in the parliament, announced about their decision, While on December 25, 2012, Armenia's first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan announced that he will not participate in the upcoming election, thought it was initially announced that Ter-Petrosyan will be the candidate of the Armenian National Congress.〔In May 2012, ANC speaker Levon Zurabyan said that they don't have a better candidate for presidency than Ter-Petrosyan. 〕 On December 26, 2012, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation announced their decision not to nominate a candidate. Thus, three major non-government parties—the ARF, ANC and PAP—did not participate in this election. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Armenian presidential election, 2013」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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