Armenian president re-elected but rival defiant

Yerevan, Feb 19 (AFP) Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian today celebrated a crushing victory in elections for a second five-year mandate, but his rival refused to recognise the result and observers complained the polls lacked competition. Sarkisian, a shrewd former military officer in power since 2008, won yesterday's polls in the small ex-Soviet state nestled in the Caucasus mountains between Turkey and Iran with 58.64 per cent of the votes. His nearest rival, former foreign minister Raffi Hovannisian, trailed in a distant second place with 36.75 per cent of votes, the central election commission said after counting results from all the precincts. Voter turnout was 60 per cent. "These elections have again shown that the Armenian people can unite and take the right decision at the most important moments," Sarkisian told supporters at his campaign headquarters. "I am proud and hope that all who did not vote for me understand the choice of the majority and we develop the country under a stable situation," he said. But Hovannisian refused to recognise Sarkisian's victory, saying "the vote was not fair and the (official) results do not reflect people's will." Speaking to hundreds of supporters in Yerevan's central Liberty Square, the US-born Hovannisian, who used to practise as a lawyer in Los Angeles, insisted he was the true winner. "I will not let the authorities steal the people's victory," he said, adding that he might seek to overturn the official results in the Constitutional Court. Hovannisian's camp alleged a range of sometimes bizarre electoral violations, including the use of "disappearing ink" to allow multiple voting. "These were shameful elections with a huge number of violations," Hovannisian's spokesman Hovsep Khurshudian told AFP. However the pro-Hovannisian rally was peaceful and there was as yet no repeat of the violent tensions that marked the vote which brought Sarkisian to power in 2008 when 10 people died in clashes with the police. Observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly said the elections were an improvement on past polls but lacked real competition after two leading candidates pulled out late last year. "This election showed improvement, but lacked genuine competition," said Tonino Picula, the head of the OSCE PA mission. (AFP) ASK 02192349 NNNN