Epress.am News from Armenia
At a meeting of the no. 10 Territorial Electoral Commission at 3 pm today, commission chair Samvel Yazryan proposed not registering the candidacy of Khachatur Sukiasyan, who is backed by the opposition bloc the Armenian National Congress, in the upcoming parliamentary election.
The commission agreed and determined that the paperwork of only three candidates — Khachatur Sukiasyan’s brother Saribek Sukiasyan; Garegin Nushikyan, backed by the ruling Republican Party of Armenia; and Gagik Shahnazaryan (no party affiliation) — meets the necessary requirements.
A document by the RA Police Passport and Visa Department stating that Sukiasyan is ineligible to run in the May 6 election because he hasn’t been permanently residing in Armenia in the past 5 years provided the grounds for not registering his candidacy.
Recall, Sukiasyan, elected as Member of Parliament from the same district in 2007 and who backed unsuccessful candidate Levon Ter-Petrossian in the 2008 presidential election, was deprived of his parliamentary mandates and accused of organizing mass riots in connection with the events of Mar. 1–2, 2008. Sukiasyan went into hiding until Sept. 2, 2009, when he voluntarily surrendered to law enforcement agencies. On Sept. 21, he was permitted to go to Germany to undergo surgery. Later, Armenia’s Special Investigation Service quashed the case against him on grounds of insufficient evidence.