April 23, 2007

Heritage Campaign Flourishes in the Face of Pressures and Attacks

Yerevan—As Heritage continues to carve its place as the majority party in the new Armenian parliament, political attacks are on the rise, from regional offices being soaked in paint to fear-mongering confrontations on the part of neighborhood thugs and, occasionally, local mayors, police, and security agents.

Two young female volunteers who were distributing Heritage flyers in Yerevan’s Avan district on Friday, April 20, were not immune from these attacks. At 5:15pm, midway through their campaigning, four unknown males, having exited a BMW 520 vehicle (license plate 02OU909), approached the college students, pushed them around, and confiscated nearly 300 Heritage brochures. A police report was immediately filed, and an official investigation is currently underway.

These incidents—as well as the blanket refusal of access for Heritage to any billboards or overhangs, both public and private, in Yerevan and across the country—betray an increasingly unfair and intimidation-driven preelection cycle. The party will continue to document these obstacles and present them to the Armenian public and election monitoring groups. The OSCE observation mission has already been informed.

Even so, Raffi K. Hovannisian and his fellow citizens continue their campaign on a dynamic and triumphant ascent. On Sunday, April 22, Hovannisian and Heritage’s candidates embarked on a tour through the Gegharkunik marz, with enthusiastic public meetings in Sevan, Gavar, Martuni, Tsovinar, and Vardenis. At Vardenik, where the Hovannisian family has been honored with a school that bears the name of world-renowned historian Richard Hovannisian, the Heritage team enjoyed a particularly warm reception.

Today, the campaign bus “Toward Victory” is making its rounds in Yerevan.

Tomorrow, in solemn commemoration of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, three generations of Hovannisians, Heritage, and the entire Armenian people will walk together to Tsitsernakaberd.

On April 25, Raffi Hovannisian will hold a press briefing at Heritage Headquarters at noon, after which he and his fellow candidates will visit Arax and other border villages between Etchmiadzin and Masis.

On April 26, the campaign caravan will travel toward triumph through Talin, Artik, Maralik, Akhurian, Amasia, Giumri, and other towns in the marzes of Aragatsotn and Shirak.