PAPER REPORTS ELECTORAL FRAUD IN ARMENIA
Aravot, Yerevan
18 Apr 06
Text of Aram Abramyan’s report in Armenian newspaper Aravot on 18
April headlined “Dynamics of impudence”.
According to the head of a local polling station [name withheld],
[Armenian President] Robert Kocharyan gained 12 per cent of votes at
his polling station during the first round of the 2003 presidential
election. But on orders from above they changed the result to 60 per
cent. Only 60 people participated in the constitutional referendum
of 2005 at the same polling station, but they reported that 1,649
people said “yes” to the reform. In some other country this would be
considered to be a sensation, but not in Armenia. Here from Robert
Kocharyan to a street cleaner nobody doubts that this is true and
not only at this polling station.
Here the dynamics of the authorities’ impudence are interesting. I
think that 12 per cent gained by the president in 2003 is not a bad
sign. In a country like Armenia, where 80 per cent of the population
are displeased with their social status, a president who is elected
for the second term could not gain more than 12 per cent of the vote.
But in this case the difference between the real and invented figures
is fivefold. But in the case of the constitutional referendum it is
27.5 times. First, if only 60 people out of 2,000 turned out to vote,
this means that people are absolutely indifferent to the constitutional
reform. In this case the authorities do what they want. Second, our
opposition should have found the person who rigged the polls instead
of recalling its representatives from polling stations.
Today, if our prosecutor’s office is clever enough, it should
immediately report to the Council of Europe that it has finally
punished the person who committed electoral fraud. It should also
punish [name withheld] so that others do not dare to tell what they
did when rigging elections.
But certainly, this is not so much important. What is important is
that US ambassador to Armenia John Evans liked the constitutional
referendum in Armenia and he considered it to be almost democratic.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
