EurasiaNet, NY
May 13 2007
Government: Elections "Best in Armenia’s History"
By Marianna Grigoryan
Published May 12, 2007
Amidst varied reports of voting irregularities, parliamentary
elections widely seen as a test of democracy for Armenia ended calmly
on May 12. The government has hailed the vote as confirmation of its
earlier predictions that a fair and free vote would be held.
Meanwhile, opposition parties are still considering their next move.
After voting ended at 8pm local time, a public television news
presenter called the elections perhaps the best ever held since the
1991 declaration of Armenia’s independence.
A similar view was expressed in the morning by Prime Minister Serzh
Sarkisian, chairman of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, as he
cast his ballot in downtown Yerevan.
`I would wish very much that the elections be the best in Armenia’s
history, both for our people and numerous observers,’ he said.
`Everything is proceeding well and if today’s electoral process
corresponds with the general pre-election process, then we will have
a good evaluation from international observers,’ Armenia’s Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanian predicted after voting.
Preliminary evaluations from the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, which has the largest international election
observation team on site, are expected on May 13. The Central
Election Commission is expected to publish preliminary results for
the vote by 8 pm local time the same day.
Local political analysts have deemed the results to be a key
indicator of the likely alignment of political forces for the 2008
presidential elections. President Robert Kocharian, however, does not
agree.
`[A]fter the [2005] constitutional reforms, to what extent will a
president with no serious support in parliament be a real figure and
head [of state]?’ Kocharian said after casting his ballot. ` If there
is strong support from the parliamentary majority, we will have a
strong president. If there is no such support, then he will be a
formal figure in a way.’
Deputy Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairman Abram Bakhchagulian
announced late on May 12 that preliminary data from 15 constituencies
showed the ruling Republican Party of Armenia in the lead with 1,016
votes, oustripping by more than a factor of ten the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation, a junior government coalition partner. The
pro-government Prosperous Armenia Party trailed slightly behind the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation, with the opposition Orinats Yerkir
(Country of Law) Party in fourth place, with 51 votes, local news
agencies reported.
The CEC has reported a voter turnout figure of 59.4 percent of
Armenia’s 2,285, 830 voters, more than nine percentage points higher
than during the 2003 parliamentary elections.
Predictions of a high voter turnout had earlier been made by Prime
Minister Sarkisian:
`Because we all have run a good election campaign,’ he told
reporters.
However, some local observers and opposition party representatives
argue that the high turnout is also the result of `good work’ on
election day.
Public transportation was in short supply in Yerevan on Saturday
morning; the minibuses that usually fill downtown streets were not to
be seen. Meanwhile, vans and buses, and sometimes also taxis, could
be seen near polling stations to which opposition members and local
observers claim they took voters.
At polling station 12/26 in the Yerevan district of Noragvit, former
Armenian ombudswoman Larisa Alaverdian told EurasiaNet that voters
had been brought in on buses and minibuses to vote, and given green
pens to use in marking their ballots for the Republican Party.
Alaverdian was a candidate for proportional election for the
opposition Heritage Party.
Speaking on television, CEC representatives have so far skeptically
assessed frequent reports about special color pens, inaccurate voter
lists, carousel voting, and ballot box stuffing.
`People can vote with pens of the color they want,’ Deputy CEC
Chairman Bakhchagulian commented on television in response to such
reports. The Armenian ombudsman’s office had received 30 complaints
about voting irregularities – chiefly to do with voter lists – one
hour before the polls closed at 8pm, the news agency PanArmenian.Net
reported.
Outright vote buying was another frequent charge made by opposition
members and local election observers – with blame usually placed on
the Republican Party of Armenia and, in some cases, also the
pro-government Prosperous Armenia Party, considered the Republican
Party’s chief rival.
Some local observers claim that the purchase of votes — with amounts
varying from $5 to $20 in dram — occurred even outside polling
stations.
`There were numerous cases of election bribes, intimidations,’
Helsinki Association Chairman Avetik Ishkhanian told EurasiaNet.
In the town of Vanadzor, 125 kilometers to the north of Yerevan,
Artur Sakunts, head of the town’s branch of the Helsinki Assembly,
reports that 2,000 dram (about $5.61) to 4,000 dram (about $11.21)
were regularly offered for votes. `Here, the voters themselves are
direct participants and encourage political corruption,’ he noted.
`Of course, this is because of their low living standards, when a
person needs 2,000 to 4,000 drams.’
For now, though, Ishkhanian and other observers are reserving final
judgement. `[W]e had worse expectations,’ Ishkhanian said. `[I]t is
not clear yet whether there will be violations after the polling
stations close [and the vote counting begins], like it happened
during the last elections.’
The Republican Party of Armenia has dismissed allegations that its
members were involved in such vote-buying schemes. Prosperous Armenia
echoes the denials, and argues that the elections went `well.’
`The elections proceeded normally except for a few minor violations,
voter list inaccuracies and local violations, although I don’t think
that they will impact the outcome of the elections,’ Prosperous
Armenia Party spokesperson Baghdasar Mherian said.
Other key political parties, both pro-government (The Armenian
Revolutionary Federation) and opposition (National Democratic Party,
National Unity Party, People’s Party of Armenia, Orinats Yerkir
Party), have been less forthcoming about the elections’ conduct,
telling EurasiaNet that they would make statements after the
publication of the preliminary results on May 13.
The hardline opposition coalition made up of the Republic Party, New
Times Party and Impeachment election bloc have already announced
plans for a public demonstration on Sunday in Yerevan against alleged
widespread election violations.
Editor’s Note: Marianna Grigoryan is a reporter for the independent
online ArmeniaNow weekly in Yerevan.