EX-SPEAKER URGES VOTERS TO SPURN BRIBES
By Ruzanna Stepanian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 18 2007

Former parliament speaker Artur Baghdasarian urged impoverished
voters not to sell their votes to pro-government parties as he took
his opposition Orinats Yerkir Party’s election campaign to the central
Aragatsotn province on Wednesday.

Visiting the economically depressed regional town of Talin,
Baghdasarian claimed that residents of nearby villages are being
offered vote bribes worth up to 10,000 drams ($27) en masse. "By
selling your votes you would sell the future of your children," he
told about 200 people attending an Orinats Yerkir campaign gathering
in Talin.

"I have just been told in villages that [people there are offered]
5,000 drams, 10,000 drams per vote," he said. "A question arises. If
you divide [the figure] by 2,000 days [remaining before next elections]
it will make 50 lumas (0.5 dram). Is it worth selling the honor of
your family for 50 lumas a day?"

"Make a choice accordance with your conscience. Make a choice that
will let your children live in a normal country," added Baghdasarian.

Vote buying by governing parties has increasingly characterized
various-level elections held in Armenia over the past decade. Many fear
that the illegal practice will reach a new height during the May 12
parliamentary election. The governing Republican Party (HHK) and the
Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) of pro-presidential businessman Gagik
Tsarukian have already been accused by their opponents of planning
to hand out cash. But both parties deny the allegations.

Baghdasarian and his associates visited Talin and nearby villages
the day after campaign rallies held there by the HHK’s top leader,
Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian. Sarkisian gathered senior government
officials in Yerevan on Wednesday to discuss numerous socioeconomic
grievances voiced by local residents.

"I’m sure there are many problems which you can solve quickly," he
said, according to the Armenian government’s press office. "People
must know when a particular problem will be solved. This is the only
way we can enjoy [their] trust."

Some of the disgruntled Talin voters claimed that they were too
scared to confront Sarkisian with demand for the government’s
resignation. "Many people here are kind of scared and call themselves
Republicans to avoid getting into trouble," said one man.

"If I criticize the party its activists will beat me up," said another.

Other people were frustrated with the abundance of opposition parties
running for parliament on their own. "If the opposition had joined
forces for regime change, we might have had some expectations from
these elections," said one of them. "But nothing will change in
this situation."