Elections of the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople expected to be held in near future

YEREVAN, JANUARY 12, ARMENPRESS: The 85th elections of the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople are expected to be held in near future. There are three main candidates – Archbishop Aram Ateshyan, who for already two years is heading de facto the activity of the Patriarchate, Primate of the German Diocese of the Armenian Church Archbishop Garegin Bekchyan and Primate of Gugarats Diocese of the Armenian Church Bishop Sepuh Chuljian. By the way, the fact of being born in Turkey is an important precondition for being elected Patriarch of Constantinople, and all the three candidates were born in Turkey. The Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople Archbishop Mesrop Moutafyan for already two years is not able to implement his functions because of health issues, and the Religious Board decided to present an application in 2009 for conducting elections. At the same time the Religious Board recognized Archbishop Moutafyan as Spiritual Leader for life. Chief editor of “Zhamanak” daily issued in Istanbul Ara Gochounyan said that the time for elections is not yet clarified. At the end of the year the Religious Board, according to the established rules, presented an application to the Turkish Home Affairs Ministry so that the state lets conduction of patriarchal elections. “The state has not yet answered, but during the Christmas celebrations Archbishop Aram Ateshyan stated that during the contacts with responsible bodies he was assured that in one week during the ten-day period the admission will be received,” Gochounyan said, noting that as far as the admission from the state has not been received the electoral body cannot establish the timeframe of the elections. Ara Gochounyan said the candidates are gradually elaborating their pre-electoral works. The Patriarch is being elected through indirect elections. Referring to the electoral procedures, A. Ghochounyan explained that each Armenian church functioning under the subordination of the Patriarchate is counted as one constituency: all the churches register the number of parliamentarians according to the number of the nearby population: people elect a parliamentarian beforehand, knowing whom the parliamentarian he/she voted for supports and the elected parliamentarians for the next 2-3 days elect the Patriarch. Archbishop Mesrop Moutafyan has been elected in 1998.