Presidential candidates express their concerns in joint statement
Three presidential candidates running in next month's election have issued a joint statement calling on all citizens of the country to go to the polls.
In their statement, former Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan, chairman of the National Self-Determination Union Paruyr Hayrikian and leader of the Heritage Party Raffi Hovannisian, congratulate the Armenian people on Army Day and share their concerns.
"We are at the threshold of an important historic event in Armenia - presidential election. Unfortunately, we have been unable to create a country in which the rule of law, universal standards of democracy, and national values prevail. This disgraceful situation requires us to come up with several initiatives.
First, we are calling for a list of citizens, who reside outside of Armenia and who have been deprived of their constitutional right to vote. We demand that propose that the list of all citizens who have resided outside the country for more than 180 days be posted separately at precincts to prevent double voting.
Second, all the eight presidential candidates, including the incumbent president, should assume the responsibility to refrain from applying the administrative resources and the intimidation during the election otherwise any falsification or proof of such violations will be viewed by us as an unconstitutional act.
At the same time, we consider it our duty to inform about our conviction that it is possible to change the current situation in our Motherland solely through consistent work and active struggle. Therefore, we call on all citizens to participate in the presidential election slated for February 18," reads the joint statement.
