Thursday,
States Bodies Warned Against Election Meddling
• Sisak Gabrielian
Armenia -- A voter is about to cast a ballot in municipal elections in Yerevan,
23Sep2018
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian warned government ministries and other state
bodies on Thursday against attempting to influence the outcome of Armenia’s
snap parliamentary elections expected in December.
Pashinian paved the way for the elections when he tendered his and his
government resignation on Tuesday. He and his cabinet members will continue to
perform their duties in the interim.
Pashinian said that “the state governance system must not be involved in
pre-election processes in any way” when he chaired a cabinet meeting in
Yerevan. The government should instead work in a “more intensive and effective”
manner in the run-up to the vote, he said.
“This is a very good period for working in tranquil conditions,” he told
ministers and other senior officials attending the meeting.
Armenia’s previous governments heavily relied on their administrative levers to
help the ruling parties and their presidential candidates win elections. That
involved strong pressure exerted on many public and even private sector
employees.
There were practically no reports of such abuses of administrative resources
during the September 23 municipal election in Yerevan which Pashinian’s My Step
alliance won by a landslide. Its official results were accepted by virtually
all other parties and blocs, another sharp contrast with past Armenian
elections.
Pashinian claimed that his government has already “rooted out” the country’s
culture of electoral fraud when he met with President Armen Sarkissian late on
Wednesday to discuss the upcoming polls.
“For us, democracy is not a slogan or method,” said the premier. “Democracy is
our political creed. Democracy is what we have fought for.”
The Armenian police promised, meanwhile, that they would act strongly against
any attempts to bribe voters or rig vote results.
“The police are prepared for the excellent conduct of the pre-term
parliamentary elections,” the police chief, Valeri Osipian, told reporters
after Thursday’s cabinet meeting. “For this purpose, we will use new
approaches, especially in the regions. I won’t specify them now.”
More Former Oppositionists Win Lawsuits Against Armenian State
• Naira Bulghadarian
FRANCE -- An exterior view of the the European Court of Human Rights in
Strasbourg, April 18, 2018
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday ordered Armenian
authorities to pay a total of 7,500 euros ($8,600) in compensation to two
former opposition activists who were arrested during 2008 post-election
protests in Yerevan.
The plaintiffs, Grigor Voskerchian and Masis Ayvazian, ran regional campaign
offices of Levon Ter-Petrosian, the main opposition candidate in the disputed
February 2008 presidential election. They also actively participated in nonstop
demonstrations staged by Ter-Petrosian in protest against alleged vote rigging.
Both men were arrested when security forces dispersed protesters camped out in
Yerevan’s Liberty Square early on March 1, 2008. Riot police and interior
troops went on to break up renewed protests that were staged by Ter-Petrosian
supporters later on that day. Eight protesters and two police servicemen were
killed as a result.
Voskerchian, who coordinated Ter-Petrosian’s election campaign in the town of
Abovian, was subsequently sentenced to two years in prison for organizing “mass
disturbances.” He denied the charges as politically motivated.
The ECHR ruled that Armenian courts did not have sufficient grounds to allow
investigators to keep Voskerchian under pre-trial arrest. The 62-year-old is to
receive 3,000 euros in damages.
Ayvazian, for his part, received a suspended two-year jail sentence at the time
for assaulting law-enforcement officers on March 1, 2008. He too strongly
denied the accusations. The ECHR said that Ayvazian must be compensated
financially because he was kept in pre-trial detention longer than was allowed
by an Armenian court.
Both former activists hailed the Strasbourg court’s rulings, while complaining
that they are long overdue.
Dozens of Ter-Petrosian loyalists, among them Armenia’s current Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinian, were jailed on controversial charges stemming from the 2008
violence. Many of them filed lawsuits to the ECHR.
Pashinian ordered a renewed criminal investigation into the bloodshed shortly
after he swept to power in May. In July, the Special Investigative Service
(SIS) arrested former President Robert Kocharian widely blamed for the
post-election crackdown on the opposition. Armenia’s Court of Appeals freed
Kocharian from custody more than two weeks later, saying that the ex-president
enjoys legal immunity from prosecution.
Kocharian still stands accused of illegally using the armed forces against the
protesters. He denies the accusation, saying that Pashinian is waging a
“political vendetta” against him.
Press Review
“Aravot” says it is only natural that members of Armenia’s former ruling elite,
who “have a lot to lose,” fear losing their assets and even freedom and are
doing everything to “miraculously change the situation.” “They are in for
disappointment,” writes the paper. “It is impossible to restore the situation
that existed in Armenia before April.” It says that former officials cannot
defend themselves with claims about their “political persecution.” In
particular, they must explain how they made fortunes while in office.
“Zhoghovurd” reports on Wednesday’s meeting between President Armen Sarkissian
and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. “It was their first meeting since Nikol
Pashinian’s resignation,” notes the paper. “It also carried interesting
messages. Pashinian assured the president that the parliamentary forces have
worked out a common approach regarding the conduct of pre-term elections.” The
paper says it remains unclear whether Sarkissian will sign into law a
controversial parliament bill that could have made it harder for Pashinian to
dissolve the current National Assembly.
“Zhamanak” says that during his five-month tenure Pashinian has managed to
“solidify the velvet revolution,” spare the state apparatus “internal and
external shocks,” and maintain peace and stability in the country. “These are
very important factors, especially considering just how intensively the former
regime worked to hit and stop the revolution process in that regard,” writes
the paper. It says that the regime had grown so closely interconnected with the
state bureaucracy than it was not easy to separate them without damaging state
institutions. “In that sense, Nikol Pashinian and his team have carried out
complicated and successful surgery in the last five months,” concludes the
paper.
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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