Author: Eduard Nalbandian

                                        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
Copyright (c) 2018 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org