On January 23 on the evening air of “Yerkir Media” the first program of pre-election
TV debate series, “The Face of the Country”, was broadcast. The program is produced
under a project of Yerevan Press Club supported by the UN Development Program.
The cycle is made of 6 programs. In the first three of them representatives
of RA presidency candidates will take part, in others the debates would evolve
between the candidates themselves. Among the other urgent issues the discussion
will center on the problems raised in the talk-shows, earlier broadcast on five
regional TV channels under the same YPC project (see YPC Weekly Newsletter,
January 11-17, 2008).
The invitees of TV debates of January 23 were the representatives of presidential
candidates Serge Sargsian, Levon Ter-Petrosian and Arman Melikian. However,
for different reasons the representatives of the former two candidates refused
to take part in this program, and their absence was signified by an empty seat.
In the debates, hosted by “Yerkir Media” observer Mariam Barseghian, the head
of the pre-election headquarters of Arman Melikian Eleonora Asatrian and the
Chairman of the Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression Ashot Melikian took
part. The discussion centered on issues of political culture, administration
of free and fair elections, democratic reforms, and development of regions.
The next program of “Face of the Country” cycle will be aired by “Yerkir Media”
on Wednesday, January 30, at 21.40.
