Bloomberg
May 12 2007
Armenians Go to Polls Aware Fraud May Put Aid at Risk (Update3)
By Sebastian Alison and Troy Etulain
May 12 (Bloomberg) — Armenians voted on a new parliament today
knowing that the country, the third-largest recipient of U.S. aid per
capita, might face cuts to assistance if the election is seen as
flawed, as all polls have been since 1995.
Preliminary data indicated about 57 percent of eligible voters cast
ballots, said a spokeswoman for the central electoral commission, who
declined to be identified by name. First results were due shortly
before midnight and would be updated every three hours through the
night, she said.
Government leaders said before the poll that the election would
differ from past votes condemned as rigged by bodies such as the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
“We have all possibilities to conduct the best ever election since
the independence of Armenia” Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan said in
an interview. Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian said that “we can’t
afford another election that doesn’t meet international standards.”
Armenia is a former Soviet state of 3.2 million in the South
Caucasus, bordering Turkey and Iran. It became independent in 1991
when the Soviet Union broke up and is heavily dependent on foreign
aid. The U.S. has contributed about $75 million a year in recent
years, and the country also gets substantial investment from the
Armenian diaspora, mainly based in the U.S. and France.
`Expecting Progress’
Sargsyan became prime minister when his predecessor, Andranik
Margarian, died in office in March. The election was already
scheduled. Sargsyan said he’s confident his ruling Republican Party
will be “solidly represented” in the new parliament and that he’d
like to stand for the presidency next year.
“We’re not expecting a perfect election,” Anthony Gordon, deputy
chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Yerevan, said in an interview
yesterday. “We’re expecting significant progress toward
international standards.”
Armenia is the third-largest recipient of U.S. government aid per
capita after Israel and Egypt, Gordon said.
“I don’t expect anything good to come from the election,” said
Kamol, a taxi driver washing his cab who, like all Yerevan residents
approached by Bloomberg today, declined to give a last name. “The
people are being cheated,” Kamol said.
Svetlana and her daughter Nana, both Russian teachers in secondary
schools, said they voted for different opposition parties. Svetlana
said she hopes that after the election “the government will think
about other people than just their own families.”
`Millennium Challenge’
Anna, an international relations specialist, said “the election will
show that Armenia is a democratic country and respects human
rights.” It will “lead to European integration,” she said.
The U.S. and Armenia last year signed a “Millennium Challenge
Compact” under which Armenia may receive a further aid package worth
$235 million to reduce rural poverty. At the time of the signing, the
U.S. State Department said the agreement was “based on the principle
that aid is most effective when it reinforces good governance” and
“economic freedom.” Officials have warned the package could be at
risk if the election isn’t free and fair.
The government has made amendments and improvements to the law
governing the election, Urdur Gunnarsdottir, spokeswoman for the
OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, said in
Yerevan yesterday.
“It is, as always, a question of the will to implement it,” she
said.
The OSCE has about 400 observers in Armenia for the poll, including
about 100 parliamentarians from different European countries.
Gunnarsdottir wouldn’t comment on the election today while voting was
still under way.
The OSCE will hold a press conference on Sunday, May 13, to give its
assessment of the election.