Article about National Assembly Elections

If anyone is interested I wrote a comprehensive article about the 2012 National Assembly elections -- perhaps the most important elections since 1991 although few understand this -- for the Armenian Weekly. Here's an excerpt:

In what will either be viewed as a memorable political triumph or the start of an endless campaign of protests, the Republican Party of Armenia claimed victory in the Armenian National Assembly elections on May 6.
Although international news reports had predicted a win for the Republicans, most leaders of the other political parties vying for seats in the National Assembly had been anticipating a less than highly favorable turnout for the ruling party.
According to data posted by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) the Republican Party of Armenia won by a landslide with 44 percent of the vote, amounting to over 663,000 ballots in their favor. The Prosperous Armenia Party came in at a distant second place with 30 percent, just short of 454,700 votes.
The Armenian National Congress, an opposition bloc composed of numerous smaller, obscure political parties led by former president Levon Ter-Petrossyan, barely passed the 7 percent minimum it needed to win its first-ever presence in parliament.
Both ARF-Dashnaktsutyun and the Heritage/Free Democrats party alliance managed to slide across the threshold needed for representation in the National Assembly, with each earning approximately 5.7 percent of the vote.

I'm going to be honest and say that I am appalled by the lack of debate about the outcome of the elections, the results of which were undoubtedly manipulated. The indifference is really depressing. I truly believe that the actual results were never revealed by the Central Electoral Commission and were instead invented by the authorities, likely the president himself judging from the numbers released.

Anyway, back to work...