VOTER APATHY APPEARS WIDESPREAD ON EVE OF PARLIAMENTARY POLL
By Marianna Grigoryan

EurasiaNet, NY
May 9 2007

With just over a day left in Armenia’s parliamentary campaign,
many voters say that it will take more than promises of a strong
army or increased pensions to get them to the polls on May 12. Some
sociologists put the disinterest down to political parties’ failure to
use professional public relations techniques. Many parties, however,
counter that they see no reason for experts to help them engage
with voters.

Frustration with past elections, which many voters believe were rigged,
appears to drive much of the apathy.

"No matter what happens, our life will not change. No matter who is
elected or not elected, nothing can change," said 50-year-old Martin
Hovhannisian, a former chemical engineer who now earns a living by
driving a cab in one of Yerevan’s suburbs. "As I see no prospects,
I will not go to the polls. The elections are for officials and do
not change anything in the lives of ordinary people."

Pensioner Margarit Minasian also plans to stay at home. She points
at buses that brought students and people working for state-run
organizations — reportedly involuntarily — to a Yerevan rally for
the ruling Republican Party of Armenia.

"If everything is turned into theater and people try to show something
using their strength, why should I believe in our tomorrow?" she
sighed.

International observers have already noted this mood. During an April
27 press conference, Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) Armenia Office Head Vladimir Pryakhin stated that OSCE
surveys indicate that more than half of Armenian voters do not want
to participate in the elections.

"It is difficult for me to say why it is so, but the latest surveys
show that 90 percent of eligible voters do not connect their and their
families’ future with the outcome of the upcoming elections," Pryakhin
told reporters. "It is not that they mistrust politicians, they simply
do not feel dependent on them," he noted about the elections. The fact
that many Armenians rely on relatives abroad for financial support
could explain the low interest in domestic politics, he added.

Similarly, an April 3-10 opinion poll of 2,000 Armenians conducted
by British pollster Populus reported that 50 percent of respondents
believe that the elections’ outcome will have no personal significance
for them. Thirty percent noted that there will be no change in Armenia
generally, and only 10 percent of respondents expressed optimism
about the elections’ consequences.

Some sociologists argue that part of the problem is that Armenian
political parties have not yet learned how to engage the public’s
attention and retain it for a month-long campaign. The knowledge of
how "to conduct a competent and correct campaign . . . is absent in
Armenia," commented Gevorg Poghosian, head of the Armenian Sociological
Association.

A campaign poster featuring a photograph of an official sitting at a
table and captioned "Strength and Faith" typifies the favored approach
for pro-government party posters. Such placards can be seen throughout
Armenian towns – even on the walls of kindergartens – and with little
variation in facial expressions or slogans. Opposition posters tend
to be equally non-descript.

"Time is moving on, but the campaign here is conducted on the level
of the 1990’s," said political campaign specialist Armen Badalian. "
Everyone says that they will build a strong army, will raise pensions,
will solve the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. The same thing constantly."

Attention to details frequently seems lacking. Information about
rallies and concerts is not always widely distributed even within the
parties themselves, much less to the press or public. The April 18 to
May 2 report of the OSCE/Office for Democratic Institutions and Human
Rights Election Observation Mission notes that "most parties appear
to favor an approach of holding unannounced or short-notice rallies."

The result, continued Badalian, is a campaign "which cannot have any
impact on the public."

"For a good result, political parties must work with voters for at
least one year, conduct surveys, decide on psychological aspects [of
the campaign], how they can influence the voter," said Badalian, who
would not disclose for which parties he himself is working. "But what
is happening is that, if, say, they are bribing voters [with handouts],
they think they have already achieved their result and never think
of consulting a specialist. They think they can do everything."

An informal poll of about a dozen political parties conducted by
EurasiaNet found that none had turned to outside advisors for help
with grabbing voters’ interest.

"What specialist can help us if we ourselves have a good knowledge of
this business?" asked Prosperous Armenia Party spokesman Baghdasar
Mherian. "I conducted PR for President Robert Kocharian in the 2003
presidential election, and, as you see, we succeeded then, so we will
be successful this time around as well."

A similar view holds on the other side of the political divide as
well. Nikol Pashinian, a newspaper editor and one of the leaders
of the hardline opposition Impeachment alliance argues that such
specialists serve no purpose.

"If you have something to say to the people and thousands of people
come to listen to you, and you do not follow any rule, but simply say
what you want to say, then people will understand you," Pashinian said.

To improve voter engagement with the campaign, one member of the
Republican Party of Armenia parliamentary faction has proposed
shortening future parliamentary campaigns from the current 33 days
to one or two weeks.

But for voters like 75-year-old Yerevan resident Varazdat Hakobian
a larger problem still lingers on.

"Everyone smiles, shows they think about us, while everyone has
in their minds how to cheat us and get hold of our votes and then
disappear for years until the next election," Hakobian said.

"Everyone is lying, so I won’t go to the polls. Let them lie without
me."

Editor’s Note: Marianna Grigoryan is a reporter for the independent
online weekly ArmeniaNow in Yerevan.