6 Armenians to get seats in Lebanese parliamentMay 16, 2022 - 14:51 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The preliminary results of parliamentary elections held in Lebanon on May 15 have been announced. Editor-in-chief of the Beirut-based Aztag Daily newspaper Shahan Kandaharian has cited preliminary results to reveale that six ethnic Armenian MPs will have seats in the parliament of Lebanon, Armenpress reports. "Three of the ethnic Armenians elected to the parliament are the candidates of the ARF – Hagop Pakradouni, Hagop Terzian and George Bouchikian. They were elected by the lists of the electoral bloc formed with different political forces of Lebanon. Jihat Pakradouni was elected by the list of the Lebanese Forces party. Jean Talouzian will take the seat reserved for the Armenian Catholic community, Paula Yacoubian was elected by the list of the public movement. I want to repeat that these are very preliminary results, as the official results are not published yet”, Shahan Gantaharyan said. Voting closed on May 15 evening in a parliamentary election that was the first since Lebanon’s economy began to spiral in late 2019, leading hundreds of thousands to protest in the streets against the country’s rulers. Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said in a news conference that voter turnout was 41 percent, and with just a few polling stations still unaccounted for no major changes were expected. The turnout figure is lower than the 49 percent seen in 2018, Al Jazeera reports. Top stories Six total incidents have burned 19 old-growth trees. Friday night 8 trees were torched along the beautiful main entrance. The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says. Hikmet Hajiyev has said that there is no place for USAID operation in Azerbaijan any longer. A telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan before the CSTO summit is not planned, Peskov says. Partner news | Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. Ex-Karabakh leader moved to solitary confinement cell in Baku, his son says David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. Freedom House concerned by mounting reports of police violence in Armenia Freedom House urged Armenian authorities to investigate this pattern of excessive force and inhumane treatment. CSTO recognizes Armenia’s sovereign right to withdraw Tasmagambetov has said that if Armenia decides to leave the organization, “it will be the sovereign right of Armenia.” |