At a press conference held today, Hmayak Hovhannisyan, a candidate for the byelection in the 10th Parliamentary District, said that he would honor his pledge to pull out of the race in favour of jailed “Haykakan Zhamanak” editor Nikol Pashinyan. “I will keep my promise and will exercise my right to withdraw my candidacy. I will ponly do this in favour of Nikol Pashinyan since, as per our agreement, is obligated to raise those concerns and issues that I hold dear,” Mr. Hovhannisyan declared. He stated that several illegalities in the race leading up to the election in January have already been observed  and that it’s up to “grant gobbling” organizations to monitor such violations; not him. Mr. Hovhannisyan pointed to the withdrawal notice from the race made by Khachatur Sukiasyan, claiming that it violated the election deadline regulations. “Sukiasyan submitted his resignation on September 15 and, according to the Law of Parliamentary Procedures, if the withdrawal isn’t taken back within a fifteen day period, then the seat must be declared vacant. Mr. Hovhannisyan didn’t take back his withdrawal and so legally the seat has been vacant since October 1. Within an eighty day period from that date, the Central Election Commission is mandated to organize new elections,” he stated. Mr. Hovhannisyan went on to say that he publicly raised the matter back in October but that no government body or NGO has seen fit to follow up. He commented that the reason why the election was scheduled for January 10 was that the newspapers would be closed during the holiday season.