YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Executive Council of Armenia member Hrand Markarian has been appointed campaign manager for the party’s bid for the parliamentary elections in May–the ARF announced at a press conference Saturday.
ARF Executive Council members Vahan Hovanessian and Gegham Manoukian presented the 70-person proportional candidate slate.
Of the 70 individuals–24 percent are experts in the social sciences–11 percent are economists–seven percent are attorneys–while six percent are journalists. More than six percent of the slate are women.
The ARF slate also includes non-party members–who comprise six percent of the list. They include–presidential advisor Artashes Toumanyan–attorneys Rouben Sahakian and Hovaness Assryan.
The ARF slate also includes representation from all districts and regions of Armenia–which is 27 percent of the list.
The average age of the ARF candidates is 42–with the oldest–Gohar Karapetian (mother of Karabakh hero Artur Gharibian) who is 67–and the youngest is 26.
Markarian stressed that the upcoming parliamentary elections will be the first elections in which the ARF will participate as a party.
He expressed hope that voters would not elect people–but rather the platforms presented by the candidates–adding that the ARF approach to matters has not changed much since 1990.