On February 12, an election for the community leader was held in thevillageofKhashtarak, 11km away from Ijevan. It was held with active participation of the voters. 1070 people out of 1418 voters on the list participated in the election. At noon, a line was formed for a few hours outside the electoral district entrance – voters were displeased, tried to cut in line. However, the police officers on duty and the members of the electoral district commission members managed to establish order. Although the village roads were covered with ice and dangerous, old men moving with much difficulty and women holding babies also participated in the election. Considering the fact that around 200 residents of Khashtarak are currently absent from the village, we can note that almost all residents of Khashtarak participated in the election. Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) member Hayk Kamalyan, the current community leader nominated by the RPA, won 466 votes, self-nominated Andranik Virabyan, a member of the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), won 296 votes and self-nominated former village headman Artur Vanesyan, a member of the RPA, won 285 votes. Such a result was expectable, since the votes against the current headman and for the two “opposition” candidates competing with him were divided and his victory was secured. Let us mention that Hayk Kamalyan, being elected the village headman in 2008, has performed vigorous activities for the past 4 years. Besides performing duties of the community leader, he hasn’t found it difficult to help his fellow villagers during the construction work in the village as a carpenter or welder. There are no complaints about the election. However, the fact that 109 out of 1070 voters voted through other persons is worth attention. It was done in the following way – old people would approach the electoral district commission members and say, “I can’t see.” The secretary of the commission would register the passport data of the helper and the old man would vote through that person. However, the same person complaining about his sight would sign on the right line of the registration book of the electoral district commission before taking the ballot without any difficulty. It is strange that so many residents of Khashtarak had eye defects, since, according to our information, charity acts of dispensing eyeglasses have taken place in the village in recent years. It is not ruled out that the establishment will use this “novelty,” in order to be sure that a voter who receives a bribe from the Republican Party candidate or who gives promise to vote for him will not break it during the voting.
Voskan SARGSYAN
