Armenian representative pledges to re-open Melkonian

DR VAHAKN Atamyan was the winner of the by-election on Sunday for the Armenian seat at the House of Representatives, after garnering 52 per cent of the 1,500 votes cast at the polls.

Atamyan received a total of 769 votes. In Nicosia, he snagged 224 votes at one of the two polling stations in the capital, and another 272 at the second. In Limassol he received 113 votes and in Larnaca 160. He succeeds Bedros Kalaydjian, who died on September 1, aged 71.

The second of the two main candidates, Dr Antranik Ashdjian received a total of 649 votes or 43.91 per cent. In Nicosia, he received 198 votes at the first polling station and 222 at the second, while in Limassol Asdjian secured 89 votes and in Larnaca 140.

Outsider and late-entry candidate Parsegh Zartarian received a total of 60 votes or 4.06 per cent. In Nicosia, he garnered 26 votes at the first polling station and 15 at the second. In Limassol Zartarian secured 13 votes and in Larnaca 6.

All three candidates were running on a ‘unity’ ticket, pledging to bring the divided 3,000-strong Armenian community together to resolve decades of polarisation within the ethnic group.

Immediately after his victory on Sunday, Atamyan promised to act as representative for all Armenians in Cyprus and strive to meet his pre-election commitments.

He called on all Armenians to join him in a struggle to promote solutions to the serious problems faced by the community and said he would be also be running for re-election in the May 2006 parliamentary elections to finish the work he is about to start.

Atamyan said he had already begun contacts with all Cypriot political parties to solve the problems faced by the Armenians in Cyprus.

He told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that he plans to visit the Armenian Patriarch in Lebanon and to begin negotiations for the reopening of the Melkonian, the only Armenian secondary school in Cyprus, which was closed down for financial reasons.
Opponents of Atamyan, who had been on the school board, said he had not done enough to help save the school.

“I will start in the next few days to have negotiations on the school with the alumni and we will see how to proceed,” Atamyan said.

Commenting on the election results yesterday Ashdjian said he had been honoured by the number of votes he received.

“It shows that nearly half of the Armenian community were pro change and worried about the future and the mismanagement and closure of the Melkonian,” he said. “I congratulated Dr Atayman last night and I will see if his promises of cooperation will be met.”

Zartarian said he hadn’t expected to secure more votes than he had “because of the deep polarisation that exists in the community”.

“However I am happy that my message was heard by all of the electorate. I’m glad that I had a lot of positive feedback from people and that the message was approved, even though for various reasons it was not converted into votes,” he said. “People didn’t want to switch. But it’s a start.”



 OCTOBER 2005 BY-ELECTIONS RESULTS