ARSON AGAINST OPPOSITION PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATE

UNCLAS YEREVAN 000692 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CARC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM KCRM AM SUBJECT: ARSON AGAINST OPPOSITION PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATE (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) On May 28, Larisa Paremuzyan, regional chairwoman of Stepan Demirchian's People's Party of Armenia (PPA),survived a late night arson attack on her apartment in the northern town of Alaverdi (Shirak Region). Paremuzyan blamed the attack on Karen Saribekian from the governing Republican Party - who had defeated her for the single mandate (majoritarian) parliamentary seat May 12. Paremuzyan had earlier alleged serious vote irregularities in the vote, and on May 25th the local prosecutor's office had summoned Paremuzyan and the chairman of the local election commission, Vram Vanian, for questioning. ¶2. (SBU) Local media quote Paremuzyan as saying that that she believed that the attack was the work of Vanian and her rival Saribekian. She said Vanian had seemed "terrified" by the prospect of a recount potentially being ordered. Alaverdi Police have started a criminal arson investigation. ¶3. (SBU) The Shirak-based human rights activist Artur Sakunts from the Armenian Helsinki Citizens' Assembly has rushed to call the incident a "terrorist act" and connected this with Paremuzyan's political activities. The spokeswomen of the People's Party of Armenia Ruzan Khachatryan also tied the arson attack with Paremuzyan's political work and publicly blamed the Republican Party. Karen Saribekyan and Vanyan have each denied any role in the incident. ¶4. (SBU) COMMENT: Paremuzyan, in contrast to most PPA regional representatives, is seen as a dynamic, energetic, and well-regarded local politician. Perhaps uniquely among PPA candidates, she was seen as having an actual shot at winning a majoritarian seat. We await further information before we are prepared to accept Paremuzyan's interpretation of the event, though some sort of political motive seems all too likely. GODFREY