Samvel Alexanyan dismisses accusations.

The campaign headquarters of Samvel Alexanyan, a pro-government candidate from a single-mandate constituency, has issued a statement.

The recent incident between residents of Yerevan's Malatia-Sebastia community and associates of the Armenian National Congress (HAK) candidate Nikol Pashinyan has stirred up a swirl of speculation.

According to eyewitnesses, the incident broke out when Pashinyan's supporters began handing out constituency residents leaflets containing disrespectful phrases about Samvel Alexanyan, another candidate of the same constituency. The terms and words used in the leaflets angered many of the district residents who hurried to express their discontent to Nikol Pashinyan.

As a result of the heated political debate, a group of local voters demanded that Pashinyan leave their "yard" and give up provocative actions. Unfortunately, Pashinyan's supporters continued to resort to provocation after Pashinyan left the district. The incident immediately became the subject of speculation by the political force [Armenian National Congress -HAK] that backs Pashinyan.

Samvel Alexanyan's campaign headquarters officially declares that it has nothing to do with the incident and believes that the spontaneous protest of local residents was resulted by the provocative actions of Pashinyan's teammates who seek to cast a shadow over the electoral process in this constituency.

The headquarters condemns all illegal and provocative actions during the campaign and calls on Alexanyan's supporters not to yield to provocations. Alexanyan's advantage over his rivals is obvious: he is deeply interested in the conduct of free and fair elections.

Nikol Pashinyan and Samvel Alexanyan are contesting a parliament seat in Constituency N7. Alexanyan is seeking reelection from the area with the backing of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), as is Nikol Pashinyan, the editor-in-chief of the Haykakan Zhamanak daily and a senior representative of the opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK).