INTERIM REPORT No. 1 10
A1+
31 January, 2008
OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Election
Observation Mission Presidential Election, 2008 Republic of Armenia
I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The election of the President of the Republic of Armenia is scheduled
for 19 February 2008. The authorities have stated their intention to
hold democratic elections in line with OSCE commitments.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) has registered nine
candidates. If no candidate receives an absolute majority of votes,
a second round of voting will take place 14 days after the first
round between the two candidates with the highest number of votes.
The Election Code was most recently amended in November and December
2007. It incorporates recommendations made previously by the OSCE/ODIHR
and provides a sound basis for the conduct of democratic elections.
The election will be administered by the CEC, 41 Territorial Election
Commissions (TECs) and 1,923 Precinct Election Commissions (PECs). The
CEC has eight members, five of which are appointed by political
parties. Each CEC member nominates one member to each TEC, who in
turn nominate one member to each PEC. The CEC appears well-prepared
to conduct the upcoming election.
The large majority of the 123 persons elected as Chairs, Deputy
Chairs or Secretaries (troika members) on TECs were proposed by CEC
members nominated by the President, the ruling Republican Party and
its coalition partner Prosperous Armenia.
The official pre-election campaign period began on 21 January. Most
candidates plan to conduct extensive campaign activity throughout
Armenia. Several candidates have already organized indoor and outdoor
events in various regions.
Since 11 January, the OSCE/ODIHR EOM has been monitoring seven TV
channels, two radio stations and four newspapers. During the monitoring
period before the start of the official campaign (11-20 January),
most of the broadcast media including public television demonstrated
a clear imbalance in their coverage of the prospective candidates.
II. INTRODUCTION
The election of the President of Armenia will take place on 19
February 2008. In early December 2007, the OSCE/ODIHR conducted a
Needs Assessment Mission (NAM).
It recommended the deployment of an Election Observation Mission
(EOM). On 19 December 2007, the Minister of Foreign Affairs (MFA)
invited the OSCE/ODIHR to observe the election. The OSCE/ODIHR
EOM opened formally on 10 January. The OSCE/ODIHR EOM, headed by
Ambassador Geert Ahrens, consists of an 11-member core team based
in Yerevan and 28 long-term observers deployed throughout Armenia,
drawn from 23 OSCE participating States. The 2008 election is the
seventh to be observed by the OSCE/ODIHR in the Republic of Armenia
according to its standard methodology.
III. POLITICAL CONTEXT
The 19 February 2008 presidential election will be the fifth since
Armenia gained independence. The incumbent President, Robert Kocharian,
first elected in 1998, has served two consecutive terms and under
the provisions of the Constitution is not eligible to contest the
election. The President is elected by an absolute majority of votes
cast. If no candidate receives the required number of votes, a second
election round will take place 14 days after the first round between
the two candidates with the highest number of votes. In a second round
of voting, the candidate with the highest number of votes is elected.
Following the 2007 elections, the Republican Party has 65 faction
members in the 131-seat National Assembly.
It formed a coalition with Prosperous Armenia (25 faction members) and
cooperates with Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Dashnaktsutiun
(16 faction members). The opposition Orinats Yerkir (Rule of Law) and
Heritage parties have eight and seven faction members respectively. Ten
deputies are not aligned.
The Prime Minister, Serzh Sargsyan, is the candidate of the Republican
Party. His presidential bid is actively supported by Prosperous Armenia
and backed by 15 non-parliamentary political parties. Although it
has signed a cooperation agreement with the coalition government, ARF
Dashnaktsutiun nominated its own presidential candidate -Vice-Speaker
of Parliament, Vahan Hovhannisyan. Orinats Yerkir nominated Arthur
Baghdasaryan (party Chair and faction leader). Four candidates were
nominated by non-parliamentary parties: Vazgen Manukyan (National
Democratic Union); Artashes Geghamyan (National Unity Party); Tigran
Karapetyan (People’s Party); Aram Harutiunyan (National Accord
Party). Two candidates were self-nominated: Arman Melikyan and Levon
Ter-Petrossian (the first President of the Republic from 1991 to
1998). Heritage Party did not nominate any candidate and to date has
not endorsed any of the other candidates.
High-level State officials of Armenia have stated their intention to
hold democratic elections in line with their commitment as an OSCE
participating State and informed the OSCE/ODIHR EOM that this intention
has been conveyed to the lower levels of the State administration.
IV. LEGAL FRAMEWORK
The Constitution of Armenia guarantees the civil and political rights
necessary to conduct democratic elections. The Election Code is the
most important piece of primary legislation regulating elections. The
OSCE/ODIHR Final Report on the May 2007 parliamentary elections found
that "The Election Code, considerably amended and improved since the
2003 parliamentary elections, provided a sound basis for the conduct
of democratic elections, although shortcomings remain".
Since the 2007 elections, the Election Code has been amended twice –
on 16 November and 18 December 2007.
The latter amendments came into force after the deadline for the
submission of candidate nominations.
The December amendments establish that the Administrative Courts –
rather than the Courts of First Instance – have jurisdiction to hear
election-related complaints and appeals, and strengthen the enforcement
of campaign expenditure rules.
While the OSCE/ODIHR and the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission
were not directly consulted on the November/December amendments of
the legislation, a number of the changes address recommendations in
the OSCE/ODIHR Final Report on the 12 May 2007 parliamentary elections.
V. CANDIDATE REGISTRATION
The deadline for nominating candidates expired on 6 December 2007. Nine
nominees submitted complete registration documents. To be eligible
to contest the presidential election, candidates must have attained
at least 35 years of age, and have been a citizen of Armenia and have
permanently resided in Armenia, for the preceding 10 years. Following
a legislative amendment adopted in February 2007, dual citizens are
not eligible to seek election as President.
Candidates may be nominated by a party, or – following the
adoption of amendments to the Election Code in November 2007
– may be ‘self-nominated’ (i.e. as a non-party or independent
candidate). The amended legislation dispenses with the requirement
that presidential candidates gather citizens’ signatures in support of
their nomination. However, the monetary deposit payable by candidates
was increased from 5 million Armenian Drams (AMD) (approx. EUR 12,000)
to 8 million AMD (approx. EUR 17,000).
Among others, civil servants, high State officials and persons
occupying "political or discretionary positions" may register as
candidates. On 7 January 2008, the CEC issued an official clarification
on the categories of persons who are required to take a leave of
absence when registered as a presidential candidate (under Articles
22.1 and 78 of the Election Code) whereby persons defined under law
as ‘civil servants’ are obliged to take leave from their official
duties, whereas persons in ‘political and discretionary positions’
need not. However, no candidate shall make use of the advantages
of their official position, and the right to access state property
for campaigning is the same for all candidates. High State officials
retain the right to receive protection and security accorded to them
in their official capacity. Serzh Sargsyan, the Prime Minister, is
continuing with his official duties as well as standing for election.
On 18 January the CEC registered all 9 nominees as
candidates. Candidates may withdraw from the contest up until 9
February, after which ballots will be printed. Candidates appear on
the ballot in alphabetical order.
VI. ELECTION ADMINISTRATION
The election is administered by a three-tiered structure headed by the
Central Election Commission (CEC), 41 Territorial Election Commissions
(TECs) and 1,923 Precinct Election Commissions (PEC). The CEC and TECs
are permanent state bodies while PECs are temporary bodies formed no
later than 27 January. Each commission has a Chair, a Deputy Chair
and a Secretary (‘the troika’), who were elected at the first session
of each commission.
The CEC has eight members. One member is nominated by the President
and two are nominated by the Council of Chairmen of the Republic
of Armenia Courts. The five parties with National Assembly deputies
(the Republican Party, Prosperous Armenia, ARF Dashnaktsutiun, Orinats
Yerkir, and Heritage Party) each nominate one member. Appointments for
election commissions are made in a hierarchical manner, in which each
CEC member nominates one member to each TEC, who in turn nominates
one member to each PEC under that TEC.
Of the 123 persons elected to troika positions on the TECs, 93 (some
75 per cent) were proposed by CEC members nominated by the President,
the Republican Party or Prosperous Armenia; 23 were proposed by the
CEC member nominated by ARF Dashnaktsutiun. Only seven were proposed
by the CEC member nominated by the opposition Orinats Yerkir and
Heritage parties.
By law, all members of all election commissions must have undergone
training and have received a certificate of qualification. According
to the CEC Chair, three training sessions were held in 2007 and some
50,000 persons have undergone certification.
The Heritage Party, which in 2007 gained parliamentary seats for
the first time, compiled a list of some 450 potential PEC members –
some 1,470 persons less than the number of PECs to be formed. On 18
January, the party invited "opposition" candidates to submit names
of some persons (that have been certified as polling officials)
to the party so that it might nominate them as PEC members.
The Election Code entitles each candidate to appoint proxies and
confers on them various rights, including to: participate in election
commission sessions; examine and receive copies of election documents;
appeal decisions, actions or inactions of election commissions; observe
the process of printing, transporting, storing and counting ballots;
make comments and suggestions to the commission chair regarding the
commission’s work, and to observe election day proceedings.
The CEC held two formal sessions during the reporting period. These
were attended by journalists, election observers and authorized
candidate representatives.
The OSCE/ODIHR EOM was invited to attend a ‘working meeting’ of the
CEC, held on 16 January. The CEC appears well-prepared to conduct the
upcoming election. It has adopted numerous decisions supplementing
provisions of the Election Code. The CEC plans to hold 164 PEC
training sessions between 30 January and 12 February. The members
of PEC troikas will receive additional training on vote count and
protocol completion procedures.
OSCE/ODIHR long-term observers have met with all 41 TECs, which
appeared generally well-prepared and equipped. TECs will hold formal
sessions on 27 January to appoint PEC members. Most candidates had
yet to appoint proxies to these bodies.
Voter Registration
With few exceptions, all citizens who have attained at least 18
years of age may vote. Citizens may only be registered to vote in
one polling place. In February 2007, an amendment to the
Under the Election Code (Article 35), the parliamentary group
of deputies outside a party faction is entitled to nominate a
CEC member. As this group has not been formed after the 12 May
2007 parliamentary elections, Article 35.3 of the Election Code
provides that the Council of Court Chairmen nominates a second CEC
member. Election Code restricted voting to the territory of Armenia,
hence all citizens eligible to vote require residency in Armenia.
Since 2005, a considerable effort has been made to improve voter
registration. The police are responsible for maintaining a centralised
and computerised voter register. The CEC informed the OSCE/ODIHR EOM
that the data contained in the voter register is based on the national
register of population – also maintained by the police – rather than
on the registration of their residence as provided by the Election
Code. The Passport and Visa Department of Police (Russian acronym
-OVIR), provided the CEC with the updated voter register sorted by
TECs and election precincts (hereafter: voter lists) within the legal
deadline (10 January). On this day, the voter register contained
2,311,665 entries, some 6,000 less than for the 2007 elections.
Citizens can check voter registration entries on the CEC website or
at designated voting places -where the lists are currently on public
display. Citizens may apply to local community heads or to OVIR to
be registered to vote, to be removed from the register, or to have
their registration details corrected. Any person can download voter
lists from the CEC website.
The November 2007 amendments to the Election Code allow citizens to
vote at their place of actual residence rather than their legally
registered residence, provided that citizens apply in advance of
election day to be registered to vote in the community of their actual
residence, and to be temporarily excluded from the voter lists in
their place of legal residence.
Voter Information
OVIR established a hotline for citizens to report inaccuracies in
voter lists and to deal with queries.
It prepared public service announcements (PSAs) on how citizens can
have their names added to voter lists or make corrections. These are
aired on public TV and radio once per week. The CEC has increased
the capacity and functionality of its website () and,
with the assistance of international organizations, has produced two
public service announcements covering voting procedures which are
being aired frequently on eight TV stations and local media.
Previously the OSCE/ODIHR noted widely circulating anecdotes and
speculation concerning the integrity of the election process,
e.g. regarding the collection of passports and vote-buying, which
adversely affected public trust in the election process. Similar
anecdotes are circulating prior to the 2008 elections, and one of
the presidential candidates, Levon Ter-Petrossian, has made various
claims that preparations are underway to manipulate the elections.
The OSCE/ODIHR EOM Final Report on the 2007 parliamentary elections
recommended that voter education be enhanced to encourage confidence
in the elections. While the media is broadcasting the officially
approved PSAs, the 2008 OSCE/ODIHR EOM is not aware so far of any
specific public information reassuring citizens of the secrecy of
their vote, warnings on the legal penalties for buying or selling
votes, and legal safeguards to prevent multiple voting.
VII. THE CAMPAIGN
The 28-day ‘official’ campaign period started on 21 January and will
end one day before the election.
Notwithstanding allegations of ‘early’ campaigning made by some
candidates against the activity of others, there are no legal
provisions that explicitly prohibit election campaigning before the
start of the ‘official’ campaign period. Between the deployment of
the OSCE/ODIHR EOM on 10 January and 20 January, election campaigning
activity was generally low key.
On 15 January, Levon Ter-Petrossian’s campaign team gave formal notice
of their intention to hold an assembly (rally) and a procession in
central Yerevan on 22 January. On 16 January, the Mayor of Yerevan
City made a statement calling on political parties, non-governmental
organizations and individual citizens to refrain from organizing
processions due to potential traffic congestion and adverse weather
conditions. In a written response to Levon Ter-Petrossian’s campaign,
the Yerevan Municipal authority referred to the Mayor’s statement but
did not prohibit the procession. Notwithstanding controversy resulting
from the Mayor’s statement and the Municipality’s handling of the
application, the rally and procession were held without incident.
The legislation entitles candidates to engage in a range of campaign
activity providing that they do not spend more than 70,000,000 AMD
(approx. EUR 155,000).
‘Community leaders’ are obliged to designate places for posting
campaign material no later than 5 days after the start of the official
campaign period (25 January). By law, material displayed at these
sites may not be removed. However, the posting of campaign material
at sites other than those specifically designated, is not legally
prohibited -although it enjoys no specific legal protection.
The Code also provides that State bodies should, on the basis of
equality, provide premises suitable for holding campaign events free
of charge. Previously, the CEC decided that candidates wishing to hold
events at these premises should apply in the first instance to the
respective TECs which should then forward requests to the competent
State body.
At the commencement of the official campaign period, many candidates
conducted press conferences to announce their election platforms. Most
candidates plan to campaign extensively throughout Armenia.
Several candidates have organized indoor and outdoor events in various
regions and have established or plan to establish campaign offices
throughout the country.
Levon Ter-Petrossian’s campaign told OSCE/ODIHR observers that it
faced difficulties in some areas to find persons willing to rent
space for use as campaign offices. Orinats Yerkir informed OSCE/ODIHR
observers it had to close a campaign office in Lori region because
of threats made against the landlord of the property. On 25 January,
its party office in Vanadzor was vandalized.
Hovik Abrahamyan, Minister of Territorial Administration and Deputy
Prime Minister, informed the OSCE/ODIHR EOM that he is taking a
vacation from his ministerial duties to act as Serzh Sargsyan’s
campaign manager and that all Governors belonging to the Republican
Party have been asked either not to campaign directly for Serzh
Sargsyan, or to do so in non-working hours. Three ministers belonging
to the ARF Dashnaktsutiun have also taken a vacation from their
ministries.
VIII. MEDIA The Constitution provides for freedom of speech and freedom
of information. The Criminal Code, however, contains provisions which
make libel and insult punishable by imprisonment.
The Law on Television and Radio Broadcasting, amended in November 2007,
forbids censorship. However, in December 2007, the OSCE Representative
on the Freedom of the Media (RFoM) wrote to the Minister of Foreign
Affairs to express his view that "recent cases of harassment and
violence against independent and opposition media have contributed to
an atmosphere of intimidation and fear in the journalistic community
in Armenia".
Under the provisions of the Election Code, public and private media
are required to present ‘impartial and non-judgmental’ information
about the candidates’ campaigns; and to ‘guarantee equal conditions
for access to mass media’. While the Code requires the CEC to oversee
that the mass media ensure equal opportunities for campaigning,
the National Commission for TV and Radio actually monitors compliance.
Candidates are provided with free airtime and may also purchase
airtime. Each candidate is entitled to receive up to 60 minutes of free
time on public television and up to 120 minutes on public radio. In
addition, candidates may purchase up to 120 minutes on public TV and
up to 180 minutes on public radio. In compliance with the provisions
of the Code, on 21 January, the CEC established by lottery the schedule
for broadcasting candidates’ free and paid airtime.
Its formal decision provides that campaign slots on public TV should
be aired from 23 January daily from 17:15 hrs – hence the slots will
be broadcast mostly outside primetime viewing hours. The timing of
the slots follows the proposal of the Council of Public TV and Radio.
Television is the most important information source for
citizens. Despite the relatively high number of media outlets in
Armenia, international organisations dealing with freedom of expression
including the OSCE RFoM have previously noted a lack of diversity
of viewpoints presented in the broadcast media. On 11 January,
the OSCE/ODIHR EOM commenced its media monitoring activity. Seven
TV channels, two radio stations and four daily newspapers are being
analysed inter alia to assess the diversity of political viewpoints
covered by the media in reporting on the election campaign.
During the monitoring period before the start of the ‘official’
campaign (11-20 January), three out of seven monitored TV channels
granted Serzh Sargsyan a majority of the total time allocated to all
nine contestants in their news broadcasts. He was mostly covered in
his official prime-ministerial capacity.
The amount of time received by Mr. Sargsyan, on privately owned H2,
Kentron, Shant and Armenia TV, even taking into account the execution
of his official duties, exceeded what could be reasonably considered
appropriate.
The other eight candidates received some coverage on most of the TV
stations monitored. However, in contrast to the almost exclusively
positive or neutral coverage afforded to Serzh Sargsyan, Levon
Ter-Petrossian was regularly portrayed in a negative light. On two
TV channels, H2 and ALM, the volume of ‘negative’ coverage of Levon
Ter-Petrossian exceed the combined amount of ‘positive’ and ‘neutral’
coverage.
The radio stations monitored by the OSCE/ODIHR EOM presented Serzh
Sargsyan more frequently as a candidate than in his official role. The
monitoring results (11-20 January) reveal that Public Radio was,
in general, more balanced in the amount of time allocated to the
prospective candidates than TV channels. The broadcasts of RFE
included greater diversity in their coverage of the nominees,
including presenting Serzh Sargsyan and Levon Ter-Petrossian in
positive, negative and neutral tones.
IX. COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS
Under the provisions of the Election Code, decisions, actions and
inactions by PEC can be appealed to the appropriate TEC. Following
the recent amendment of the Election Code, decisions, actions or
inactions of the TEC can be appealed to the Administrative Courts. The
Special Investigative Services (SIS), established in January 2008,
is responsible to investigate electoral offences committed by the
executive, judicial and legislative branches of government, under
the Criminal Code. It is independent of the Government and the
office of the Prime Minister and is supervised by the Prosecutor
General. Previously, the investigation of electoral offences was
devolved; now they are centralised. The SIS is not established as a
proactive body – it acts only on the basis of submitted complaints.
The Election Code requires election commissions to monitor the conduct
of the campaign. The CEC has advised the OSCE/ODIHR EOM that it
monitors four aspects of the campaign: posters, candidate programmes,
leaflets, and the holding of meetings, to ensure compliance with
established procedures. The CEC will also accept campaign-related
complaints from citizens. Should the CEC identify a violation of the
campaign provisions it can issue a warning to the candidate giving
him three days to take action to rectify the situation. However, the
CEC has no jurisdiction to rule on the matter. Should a candidate
having received notice from the CEC fail to take remedial action,
then the CEC refers the matter to the Administrative Court.
X. OSCE/ODIHR EOM ACTIVITIES
The Head of the OSCE/ODIHR EOM has been received by President
Kocharian, Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan and Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Vartan Oskanian. Regular and cooperative working meetings
have been held with the MFA and the CEC. The first meeting with
representatives of the embassies of the OSCE participating States was
held on 17 January. The OSCE/ODIHR EOM expects to complete initial
meetings with all candidates by 1 February.
The OSCE/ODIHR has requested the OSCE participating States to nominate
250 short-term observers. The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA),
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the
European Parliament will also send observer delegations. On 25 January,
the OSCE Chairman-in-Office designated OSCE PA Vice-President,
Ms. Anne-Marie Lizin, as Special Co-ordinator to lead the OSCE
short-term observers.