PRESS RELEASE
The Heritage Party
31 Moscovian Street
Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+374 – 10) 53.69.13
Fax: (+374 – 10) 53.26.97
Email: info@heritage.am; office@heritage.am
Website:
HERITAGE REPORT
On the Election Violations During Official Campaign Period (April 8-May 9)
for the Parliamentary Elections of May 12, 2007
Despite the fact that all political forces, which had announced of their
participation in the parliamentary elections scheduled in Armenia for May
12, had stated in December 2006 that they were going to endeavor for the
holding of free, fair, and transparent elections, the monitoring of the
pre-electoral period showed that there was an unfair election competition
between the opposition and the pro-establishment forces in terms of media
access, use of public facilities and billboard spaces, and campaign finance
requirements. This competition, however, had started much earlier for those
political forces that support the authorities.
The report presented on May 10 by the National Citizens’ Initiative, which
finalizes the results for the monitoring–conducted between April 8 and May
9 and based on content analysis–of the newscasts of eight television
companies, has revealed this extremely unequal coverage. Unlike most others,
during the official campaign season, Raffi Hovannisian was not invited to
even one talk show on any television station.
Observers from the "Choice is Yours" observation mission have likewise
recorded incidents of campaign obstruction. At Karakert village, for
example, the Heritage Party was not allowed to post campaign posters,
whereas in Yerevan’s Shengavit community, the party was not allotted any
place to post its placards. Throughout numerous communities, the party
volunteers were forbidden to post campaign material at the polling stations,
but in reply to a formal petition submitted to him to that effect by
Heritage, chairman Garegin Azarian of the Central Election Commission (CEC)
had allowed the posting of the material; this reply is posted at CEC’s
official website. But even though the party showed this reply, the election
commissions of the polling stations still did not allow the posting of
campaign material.
During a press briefing held on April 20, Heritage’s spokesman Hovsep
Khurshudian took note of the artificial difficulties and obstacles which the
party campaign faced, specifically in the outlying regions, with respect to
the lawful public posting of campaign posters and announcements.
Accordingly, Heritage dispatched a formal letter to the Central Election
Commission demanding a full explanation of these illegal actions.
Also on April 20, two young female volunteers who were distributing Heritage
flyers in Yerevan’s Avan district were not immune from these attacks. At
5:15pm, midway through their campaigning, four unknown males, having exited
a BMW 520 vehicle (license plate 02OU909), approached the college students,
pushed them around, and confiscated nearly 300 Heritage brochures. A police
report was immediately filed and Heritage volunteers gave testimony
attesting to this felony. Maintaining the absence of corpus delicti,
however, the prosecutor’s office refused to launch an official
investigation.
"The fear in Kapan was fairly troublesome, and the citizens can free
themselves of this fear only by joining forces," stated Heritage’s spokesman
Hovsep Khurshudian after his visit to the Siunik marz.
On May 4, Heritage candidate and Armenia’s first ombudswoman Larisa
Alaverdian stated that during their visits to the marzes they had noticed
that many citizens were in fear and those working for the authorities were
making that fear grow worst. This fear is more apparent in the Siunik marz
where, according to Heritage campaigners, people were even scared to accept
the party booklets being distributed.
Within the framework of Heritage’s campaign visits to the Vayots Dzor and
Siunik marzes, an unfortunate incident occurred on April 18. At Areni, the
village elder confronted Heritage representatives, saying that no one could
hold any election campaign in his village without a 5-day notice. Raffi
Hovannisian, however, corrected the village elder. "Areni is no one’s
private property. It first belongs to all the villagers, and then to the
entire people of Armenia," he said.
The voters at Chambarak town informed Heritage representatives visiting the
Gegharkunik marz that they were instructed by the Republican Party and local
authorities to cast their ballots in favor of the aforesaid party.
During Heritage’s campaign travel to the Armavir marz, at Lernagog, the
village elder informed Raffi Hovannisian of the political decision reached
by their village. "Our village is not involved in politics, there are no
political parties in our village, and we favor the Republican Party," he
said. "I am not hiding it, we have made a political decision."
Larisa Alaverdian also has reported of cases when passports were being
collected from the citizens. In Giumri town, as case in point, the passports
of 130 teachers were collected, photocopied, returned, and they were
informed: "We will know whom you will vote for." In fear of losing their
jobs, the teachers agreed to cast their ballots in favor of the instructed
party. "At the villages, they are mongering fear in other ways. They are
telling the villagers that the letter informing them of the elections has a
secret code which makes it possible to ascertain the voter’s choice,"
Armenia’s first ombudswoman concluded.
The local authorities in other places, reminding of the existing and unclear
stipulations in the Election Code, did not allow the posting of Heritage’s
posters at the polling stations. The party has submitted a formal letter to
the Central Election Commission demanding a full explanation.
On May 3, Heritage volunteers, who were distributing campaign material, were
denied entry to a popular public market in Yerevan. "This is my market,"
said the self-proclaimed owner. "You can complain to whomever you want."
Heritage also faced a similar problem. Months before the official campaign
cycle, the party had asked the "Zebra" and "Nushikian Association" private
advertising companies to provide information with respect to the regulations
for placing advertisements and regarding the billboards that could be used
to place the party’s advertisement. Despite Heritage’s written petition,
both companies verbally refused its request maintaining that they had no
billboards available.
During a press briefing on May 4, Larisa Alaverdian reminded that over 800
thousand Armenian citizens are presently absent from the country and "the
number of eligible voters presented by the authorities is overstated." She
also expressed a conviction that the deceased will likewise "vote" with us
on May 12.
May 13, 2007
Yerevan
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress