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:

May 14, 2007

Heritage’s Election Surprise

Yerevan–Heritage continues to receive correspondences of congratulation
from thousands of Armenian citizens. Both the process of the elections and
the final results (which registered 5.8 percent in our favor), however, are
not satisfactory. And though the parliamentary elections of May 12 improved
on past elections, they still did not correspond to international standards
and–more importantly–the standards of our national dignity. When, in short
order, the people of Armenia come to power, such shameful elections will not
be condoned.

Both the pre-election campaign season and election day were escorted by
countless substantive violations of law and democratic criteria. The results
registered in some areas (specifically outer villages), which showed a
90-99% allegiance to a given political party, leave much room for concern.
When compared with the enormous success Heritage enjoyed in Yerevan, most
often registering first- and second-place victories in the capital’s
precincts, these outcomes are especially troubling. The concerns are
corroborated by hundreds of reports of violation that poured in from
Heritage’s observers all throughout election night. A sampling of these can
be read at

Yet before the elections themselves were conducted, deliberately unfair
conditions were established to favor those who established them: the ruling
authorities. The television monitoring of the Armenian Center for National
and International Studies clearly concluded that access to the airwaves was
severely limited to opposition parties, while the establishment parties
enjoyed direct contact with millions of voters. The total TV blockade on
Heritage, which lasted a year and a half prior to the arrival of
international observers before the campaign season, was quickly reinstated.
Apparently disturbed by the party’s high rating, the H1 public television
channel simply pretended that Heritage did not exist; from May 4 to May 12,
the most vital week of the campaign period, the party’s successful town hall
meetings and key announcements were not covered. When combined with the
authorities’ blanket refusal to provide Heritage with billboard space and
the authorities’ disrespect for campaign spending limits, the unequal
conditions proved complicit in the elections’ disgraceful execution.

Tomorrow, May 15, the Forum Club will host the Heritage Party’s first
post-election press briefing. Raffi K. Hovannisian, Larisa Alaverdian, and
Heritage media spokesman Hovsep Khurshudian will answer the media’s
questions at the Yerevan Hotel at 13.00.

Founded in 2002, Heritage has regional divisions throughout the land. Its
central office is located at 31 Moscovian Street, Yerevan 0002, Armenia,
with telephone contact at (374-10) 536.913, fax at (374-10) 532.697, email
at office@heritage.am or info@heritage.am, and website at