Candidate Hmayak Hovhannisyan running for Parliament at Constituency 10 has withdrawn from the election race. He has issued a message urging his fellow compatriots to vote for candidate Nikol Pashinyan.
"By casting your votes in favour of political prisoner Nikol Pashinyan, editor-in-chief of Haykakan Zhamanak daily you will take a just and unbiased decision against this monstrous and punitive machine which committed a dreadful massacre in the centre of Yerevan on March 1, 2008.
We cannot reconcile ourselves to the fact that an opposition newspaper editor who has never taken any weapon in his hands is being sued instead of the real criminals.
I have always opposed and still oppose to unequal competitive conditions in all spheres of life.
Armenia will remain a backward and wrecked country as long as bribed officials and oligarchs deprive others of an opportunity of equal footing.
If we want to get rid of inequality we must start from cleansing the political domain. The authorities' decision of bringing Pashinyan to justice has deprived me of an alternative and I decided to withdraw from the race in favour of Nikol Pashinyan.
Dear compatriots, urge your relatives and acquaintances to vote for Pashinyan on January 10 thus ending Pashinyan's sufferings and bringing him back to his relatives, readers and colleagues. Pashinyan's fortune is in your hands.
God grant you happiness, success and new achievements in the new year."