Thousands demonstrate against Armenian leadership ahead of elections

Aram Karapetian told a crowd of 7,000 in the capital, Yerevan, that his party and others in what he called the "radical opposition" are competing in the May 12 election in order to win parliamentary seats and start an impeachment process against Kocharian.

Karapetian said the members of the government of Kocharian and Prime Minister Serge Sarkisian "think only about personal enrichment ... and how to stay in power."

Sarkisian's Republican Party is widely expected to win the most seats in the elections in the former Soviet republic.

Karapetian accused the authorities of falsifying results in past elections. He and the leader of the Republic party, Aram Sarkisian, vowed to stage protests on the day after the vote if fraud is suspected. The Associated Press

/The International Herald Tribune/