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Thursday, 17 April 2003
ARMENIAN PRESIDENT REJECTS CALLS FOR \'REFERENDUM OF CONFIDENCE\'
By empty (4/17/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The presidential press service said in a statement released on 17 April that Robert Kocharian will not comply with a Constitutional Court\'s proposal of 16 April to hold a \"referendum of confidence\" to allay widespread doubts about the validity of the February-March presidential election. That proposal was contained in the Constitutional Court\'s ruling rejecting an appeal by defeated presidential candidate Stepan Demirchian that the poll be annulled in the light of alleged procedural, legal, and constitutional violations. Vahan Hovannisian, one of the leaders of the Yerevan Bureau of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutiun which backs Kocharian, argued on 17 April that the Constitutional Court\'s proposal to hold a \"referendum of confidence\" contradicts its simultaneous ruling that the presidential election outcome is legal and valid.
The presidential press service said in a statement released on 17 April that Robert Kocharian will not comply with a Constitutional Court\'s proposal of 16 April to hold a \"referendum of confidence\" to allay widespread doubts about the validity of the February-March presidential election. That proposal was contained in the Constitutional Court\'s ruling rejecting an appeal by defeated presidential candidate Stepan Demirchian that the poll be annulled in the light of alleged procedural, legal, and constitutional violations. Vahan Hovannisian, one of the leaders of the Yerevan Bureau of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutiun which backs Kocharian, argued on 17 April that the Constitutional Court\'s proposal to hold a \"referendum of confidence\" contradicts its simultaneous ruling that the presidential election outcome is legal and valid. (Noyan Tapan)