(20 Feb 2013)
1. Wide of opposition rally in Yerevan centre
2. Opposition leader Raffi Hovanessiann walking through supporters
3. Mid of opposition supporters holding flags
4. Various of Hovanessian addressing the rally
5. Mid of people chanting
6. Wide reverse of Hovanessian addressing the rally
7. Mid opposition supporters holding Armenian flags
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Raffi Hovanessian, leader of Heritage party:
"People are on their way to the first victory in modern Armenian history. We have lost so much in history. Our homeland in western Armenia to the genocide in Ottoman Turkey. We demand justice. We demand compensation and we demand a right of return. We demand justice also on mountainous Karabakh, and recognition of our land of liberty no less than Kosovo, no less than South Sudan or East Timor, but first of all Armenian people in their homeland must take control of their destiny, our democracy. For twenty years we have not done that."
9. Mid opposition supporters
10. SOUNDBITE (Russian) David Akopian, opposition supporter:
"Mr. Serge (Sarkisian) has lost, Mr. Serge is kaput. We need a new government with new economic policies. A state machine of a complete new type. This is what we all need now."
11. Mid of rally
STORYLINE:
Armenia's president easily won a second term, according to preliminary election results on Tuesday, but his main rival claimed vote-fraud and thousands of his supporters held a protest rally in the nation's capital.
President Serge Sarkisian received nearly 59 percent of the vote, enough to avoid a runoff, Tigran Mukuchian, chairman of the country's Central Election Commission, said on Tuesday.
The 58-year-old Sarkisian was widely expected to win. He has overseen a return to economic growth after years of stagnation, although the former Soviet republic still suffers from widespread poverty.
The closest of his six rivals, American-born Raffi Hovanessian, got 37 percent of the vote.
Hovanessian, Armenia's first foreign minister after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, on Tuesday called the election unfair and rigged, claiming cases of ballot-box stuffing and voters being coerced to back Sarkisian.
At a protest rally in Yerevan that drew 2,000-3,000 people, Hovanessian declared himself the genuine winner and called on Sarkisian to arrange a transfer of power by Wednesday evening.
The rally ended peacefully, but some participants later held a march chanting "Raffi is president".
Just over 60 percent of Armenia's 2.5 million eligible voters cast ballots in Monday's election, the election commission said.
All the votes have been counted, but the winner will not be officially declared until February 25.
International observers from the Organisation for the Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) say the election "lacked competition", but they noted improvements over the previous poll.
The landlocked country's economy is hobbled by the longstanding closure of its borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Both neighbours reject the occupation by Armenian troops and ethnic Armenian local forces of Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region.
That conflict shows no signs of resolution despite years of international mediation attempts.
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