Will the presidential elections be postponed?
YEREVAN—Armenian presidential candidate and leader of the Armenian Self-Determination Movement Paruyr Hayrikian was shot on Tpagrichneri Avenue, shortly before midnight Friday. This assassination attempt could postpone the February 18 presidential elections.
Hayrikian was transported to the St. Gregory the Illuminator Hospital, where officials told Hetq.am that that at 11:55 p.m. Hayrikian was admitted with a gun shot wounds to his right clavicle and after undergoing surgery was recuperating in the intensive care unit.
Emergency room reports indicated that his life is not in danger.
“He is recovering,” said a hospital spokesperson.
Yerkir.am reported that Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, Health Minister Terenik Toumanyan, presidential candidates Raffi Hovannisian and Hrant Bagratian, as well as members of parliament visited the hospital.
Relevant agencies were on the scene investigating the incident.
Could the presidential elections be postponed?
The Hayrikian incident could force the presidential elections to be postponed. According to Article 98 of the Armenian Presidential Election Code, if a candidate is faced with insurmountable obstacles, the elections must be postponed by two weeks, reported Yerkir.am.
Chairman of the Armenian Parliament and President Serzh Sarkisian’s re-election campaign manager Hovik Abrahamian, who was in the hospital with other high-ranking officials, did not rule out the postponement of the elections depending on the developments of the case.
No kidding!!! “He is recovering”, unless a sudden aneurism happens to him…
Yev menk gsenk for Dajiknere vayreni en?
You should wait until the culprit is found before you come to any conclusion. And yes dajiknere vayreni en. Are you implying that Armenians are worse? Do you know who did this?
Tpagrichneri street is where Hayrikyan lives in a modest apartment.
Awful development. If the perpetrator is caught and a link is established, it could have far-reaching implications.
A barbaric and shamefull act the culprit should be brought to justice where is the body guards of our presidential candidates is it free for all or only the president has an apropriate ptotection shame shame
I would be very careful about how to handle this situation if I was say part of the Armenian media. This could very well be an attempt to destabilize the country during elections in wake of an Azeri offensive into Armenia. … the players? Everyone…you don’t necessarily have to be holding a gun at the crime scene to be a the “suspect”. We are living in dangerous yet interesting times.
Very good what you just said people should not jump and start pointing fingers at our own Government yes indeed it is a out side work by one of our enemys and people should realize and see the big picture , every time were the situation gets better in Armenian all of the sudden some one tries to destabilize our our country and yes i beleive strongly it is an out side source that is involved with the current situation.
Sad news from Armenia!!
I do not believe what happened to Paruyr Hayrikian today was a random shooting, nor do I believe it was a mafia related incident. This was clearly an assassination attempt. But by who?
Paruyr Hayrikian is a well known Soviet era dissident with very close contacts in Washington. Hayrikian is also well known for his anti-Russian extremism. Although Hayrikian is tolerated and somewhat respected in Armenian society, when it comes to serious political matters, a majority of Armenians dislike him and/or don’t trust him. Therefore, Hayrikian would have never gotten anything past the single digits in any elections in Armenia as recent polling data have revealed. Therefore, Hayrikian did not pose any threat to the incumbent president or to the Armenian state or to the Russian Federation.
If the shooting was indeed carried-out by Armenian or Russian state interests, then it was meant to be a drastic message to the West to keep their men out of the political process in Armenia. The geopolitical situation in the region is extremely tense and Russians are not taking any chances. But why would Russians do this now, when the presidential election is near and their man in Yerevan is assured to win?
A more plausible theory in my opinion is that Western interests may have been behind the shooting.
In other words, they shot one of their own (one who didn’t have a promising political career in Armenia anyway) to put pressure on Armenian authorities ahead of the presidential elections or to incite social unrest. This may also have been done to smear Armenia’s name and to forever taint the up-coming elections similar to what they did back in 2008. Watch now how Armenia’s political opposition will go hysterical over this incident and how much bad coverage the up-coming elections will have.
Just when President Sargsyan thought he had tamed the political field in Armenia to his advantage, we now have something that is potentially very explosive in Yerevan. Until today, the election campaign was unusually going all too well for President Sargsyan.
I reiterate: Although Hayrikian had been under Russian surveillance for decades due to his on-going collaboration with Washington and Moscow had/has ample reasons to eliminate him, I do not think they were behind the shooting today. Moreover, why would the incumbent president in Armenia want to do this now and risk serious unrest just ahead of the presidential elections – especially when Paruyr Hayrikian posed absolutely no competition to him?
We keep praising ourselves as one of the first civilizations in the world and the first nation to accept Christianity as our state religion. We pride ourselves on our intelligence and human capital. Then some scums come along and do this or the Parliament shootings in 1997. Shame on the people who organized this and shame on the guys who did it. I won’t be surprised to learn that it is Serzh Sarkisian and his surroundings in order to intimidate the voters and the other candidates. His football diplomacy at work.
Paruyr Hayrikian is a well known & respected personality, we all armenians love , respect & follow him, we
dont have anything for cover up,we need to be vigilant, nutralize turkey chiken nation opportunistic,terrorist
activities inside Armenia.
Fate of a traitor. He got off easy. Hopefully LTP won’t get off so lightly when his time comes.
This was most probably an assassination ordered by Western interests. They basically shot one of their own in an attempt to incite unrest in the country ahead of the coming presidential election. The electoral process was proceeding too quietly, too peacefully and the incumbent president was assured to win. Ask yourselves, who gains from unrest in Armenia? The answer is – the Anglo-American-Zionist alliance and their regional Turkic and Islamic friends…
It is a shame… This is not the free Armenia we had been dreaming about, this is not the Armenia our parents talked to us about, or we talked to our kids about. SHAME… I pray that this shouting is fully investigated for the good of our homeland.
Armenians should be careful not to bite this bait. Some foreign interest could be trying to destabalize the country. Stand above it Armenia.
my dear armenians wake up dont judge to soon, this could be well planned my Hayrikian him self in order to gain media attention inclusief more votes from people more attention
I am suprised becouse if somone really wanted him death he would be death on that same day he was shot.
besides he recovered really fast.
I am not saying this is true but this could be very likely that it happend this way all planned.
Those people are not to bring wealth for our country but to make profit for them selfs
Dont believe every bullshit they promise you those canidates they are after money and power.
there are only 2 good cannidates in the presidency race which are Serj Sargsyan & Raffi Hovanisyan,
my dear armenians wake up dont judge to soon, this could be well planned by Hayrikian him self in order to gain media attention inclusief more votes from people more attention
I am suprised becouse if somone really wanted him death he would be death on that same day he was shot.
besides he recovered really fast.
I am not saying this is true but this could be very likely that it happend this way all planned.
Those people are not to bring wealth for our country but to make profit for them selfs
Dont believe every bullshit they promise you those canidates they are after money and power.
there are only 2 good cannidates in the presidency race which are Serj Sargsyan & Raffi Hovanisyan,
one canidate is readey to starve to death and one canidate is readey to let him be shot
In order to gain Media attention those are all planed
Es marte uzuma vor menq russastanits verananq vor russe che lini hayastane ke xortanqvi
Ruse lava te vata mez oknuma yev urish char chunenq aranc russastane Hayastani chi lini mer saman pahapanen vor Barbaros Turkere che qan metnen mer erkir
Amoth Hayrikyanin
Make no mistake foreign powers are involved in this assassination attempt.
I think we should keep cool. This is no time for social and political unrest in the country. We don’t know who is behind this so better be patient a bit until the facts are known. Maybe the “assassin” wasn’t even Armenian so let’s not jump the gun. These things happen when certain elements want to cause mayhem, so better not give way to emotions and no one has died as a result.Assassins don’t usually miss their targets so better wait and see if they get the man!
Some “none” Armenian political forces willing to see another March 2008 incidents and create a fake revolution in Armenia!!I am sure most Armenians are smart enough to stay calm and deal with election and not to get trapped with foreign political intention to destabilize Armenia!!
Despite a couple of paranoid comments above, as a Turk, regardless of nationality or ethnicity or race, such an act is reprehensible. May his attacker be brought to justice ASAP!