On February 10 at the International Press Center “Elections-2003”
at the Journalists Union of Armenia a press conference of RA presidency candidate,
leader of “United Armenians” party Ruben Avagian. Answering the question
about the work of the media during the pre-election campaign, Ruben Avagian
noted in particular: “The press, especially the newspapers that sympathize
with the opposition are partial to us. The media are passive in covering my
campaign and the activities of “United Armenians” party as such. For
this reason we decided to publish our own newspaper which would reflect the
interests of the country.”
On February 11 and 13 the IPC was to host two other press conferences – those
of RA presidency candidates Artashes Geghamian and Stepan Demirchian, respectively.
However, both politicians cancelled the meetings with the journalists, saying
their schedules were tight.
On February 14 at a press conference hosted by IPC RA presidency candidate
Garnik Margarian said that he respects “the fourth estate” and believes
the majority of media, except the pro-governmental ones, give an objective coverage
of the pre-election campaign. At the same time he noted that he does not blame
the journalists and media for their dependence, since they have to follow the
orders due to their poor economic condition. RA presidency candidate also informed
that after members of his pre-election staff Gayane Markosian and Edward Simoniants
spoke on the air of “Burg” program of “Yerevan” TV company,
the program was closed.
