The presidential candidate of Armenia Paruyr Hayrikyan has refused the postponement of presidential elections for two weeks and withdrew his application recently filed to the Constitutional Court, Constitutional Court press secretary Hovhannes Papikyan told Novosti-Armenia.
He said the document on the request of a withdrawal was submitted by Hayrikian's lawyer Levon Baghdasaryan on Monday.
On January 31, presidential candidate Paruyr Hayrikyan was shot in the shoulder at Tpagrichneri Street (Pechatniki) in the centre of Yerevan where his parents reside.
According to the Constitution of Armenia, in the event of insurmountable obstacles for a candidate, a presidential election can be delayed by two weeks.
Hayrikyan changed his mind on this issue for the fourth time over the past 10 days. The day after the assassination attempt, Hayrikyan did not rule out that he will have to apply to the Constitutional Court, but on February 5, said he would not seek postponement of the election date.
However, three days later coordinator of the candidate's pre-election staff Manya Aivazian said that he will submit a request to the court on Sunday. Hayrikyan explained this saying that he is not going to be involved in the campaign as the doctors forbid him to go ahead.
On February 9, the politician indirectly pointed to another reason to postpone the election. In an open letter addressed to the other two candidates - Hrant Bagratyan and Raffi Hovannisian, Hayrikyan offered them the chance to unify and participate in elections as a single candidate. He noted that if the elections are postponed for 14 days, it will be possible to present a single candidate unifying the candidates' programmes.
Legal proceedings were instituted under Article 34-305 of the Criminal Code of Armenia (attempted murder of a statesman, political or public figure committed for termination of his activities).
A joint investigation group was created including the police and National Security Service. The investigation is being controlled by the NSC. On Friday, the press centre of the National Security Service reported that Khachatur Pogosyan and Samvel Harutyunyan suspected of the attempted murder of Hayrikyan were detained. A day later, discovery of a Nagan type revolver was reported as being found in the apartment of one of the detainees. According to experts, the candidate was shot from a weapon of this type.
The sixth Armenian presidential election will be held Feb.18 from 08:00 to 20:00 local time. The head of state is elected for five years.
Those running for the presidency are the incumbent president and ruling Republican Party leader Serzh Sargsyan, former Prime Minister Grant Bagratyan, chairman of the Heritage Party Raffi Hovhannisyan, Paruyr Hayrikyan, Arman Melikyan, Andrias Ghukasyan, Vardan Setrakyan and leader of the National Accord Party Aram Harutyunyan.