OPPOSITIONIST SLAMS ‘DISGRACEFUL’ SARKISIAN CAMPAIGN
By Ruzanna Stepanian

Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
Jan 16 2008

The campaign manager of Artur Baghdasarian, a major opposition
candidate in next month’s presidential election, accused the Armenian
authorities Wednesday of forcing local government officials and public
sector employees to ensure Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian’s victory
at any cost.

Heghine Bisharian alleged that the practice is widespread in areas
outside Yerevan, with local government chiefs and their subordinates
told secure a particular number of votes for Sarkisian or risk losing
their jobs.

"They summon all officials — regional governors, town and village
mayors, school principals, teachers, doctors — and foist [vote]
percentages on them," Bisharian told a news conference. "People from
villages call us and say, ‘My fate depends on ensuring a 90 percent
vote for the candidate of power. How am I going to ensure that 90
percent?’"

"Every teacher is obliged to bring a list of at least ten people who
will vote for the government candidate. Or else, they will have to
look for another job," she said.

Bisharian, who is also the deputy chairwoman of Baghdasarian’s
Orinats Yerkir Party, did not offer any proof of the allegations or
name officials allegedly involved in voter intimidation and other
illegal practices.

Sarkisian and his Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) were accused
by the opposition of using similar methods to score a landslide
victory in the May 2007 parliamentary elections. The allegations,
backed up by some media reports, were denied by the HHK. They also
did not keep international observers from describing those elections
as largely democratic.

"We stand for democratic ideas and believe that these elections too
must meet democratic standards," Eduard Sharmazanov, a spokesman for
the HK and the Sarkisian campaign, told RFE/RL on Wednesday.

Sharmazanov dismissed Bisharian’s claims as "slander." "It is obvious
to many sections of our public that the Republican Party and Serzh
Sarkisian’s campaign team in particular want a civilized and democratic
electoral race," he said. "We believe that it is impossible to become
president by force in the 21st century."

Bisharian insisted, nonetheless, that Sarkisian’s campaigning methods
are already calling into question the freedom and fairness of the
February 19 election. "This is a disgrace," she said. "What’s the
point of holding presidential elections in the first place?"

Bisharian went on to warn that Orinats Yerkir will urge supporters to
take to the streets if the vote is rigged by the authorities. Similar
threats have also been made by another leading opposition candidate,
former President Levon Ter-Petrosian.