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FREE AND FAIR?
by Irina Ghaplanyan
Transitions Online, Czech Republic
July 23 2007
A leading Armenian opposition figure stands by accusations that the
parliamentary election process was flawed.
YEREVAN, Armenia | Political parties allied to President Robert
Kocharian won a commanding majority in parliamentary elections
this spring, an outcome upheld by the nation's highest court. But
a leading opposition figure continues to argue that the election
process was unfair.
Kocharian's ruling Republican Party and its allies have been accused of
vote-buying and coercion, among other violations, adding to the former
Soviet republic's years of electoral woes. Kocharian gave a positive
assessment of the elections - an unsurprising response to a process
that proved fruitful for the president - and international observers
gave cautious praise for improvements over previous elections.
Raffi Hovhannisian Raffi Hovhannisian, the U.S.-born former foreign
secretary of Armenia and head of the opposition Heritage (Zharangutyun)
party, thinks otherwise.
"No European country, regardless of how its representatives might
assess the May 12 elections, would have allowed such conduct of
parliamentary elections in their own countries," he said.
Heritage joined with other opposition forces in alleging that the May
election was marred by problems and irregularities, but such charges
were dismissed by the Constitutional Court. "The elections did not meet
international standards, EU benchmarks, and even Armenian election
requirements, but most importantly they did not satisfy Armenia's
population at large," Hovhannisian told Transitions Online.
Hovhannisian, 48, was born in Fresno, California. He moved to Armenia
and became the independent country's first foreign minister from 1991
to 1992, after which he founded the Armenian Center for National
and International Studies. A political force to be reckoned with,
Hovhannisian has been seen as a threat to the ruling party for more
than a decade. Granted Armenian citizenship only in 2001, Hovhannisian
was prevented from running for president in 2003 because the national
constitution stipulates that candidates have a 10-year citizenship
status.
Rumors are circulating now that he will try to enter the presidential
race in 2008.
CAUTIOUS PRAISE FOR OUTCOME
In their initial reports after the May election, foreign observers
from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
and its Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR),
the International Election Observation Mission (IEOM), and the U.S.
State Department played up the positive. They pointed to modest but
noteworthy progress, lauding the vote as a step in the country's
democratic development. Party programs and campaigns, the observers
noted, proved more sophisticated and transparent than ever.
Armenian authorities did show greater willingness to conduct clean
elections than they have since Armenia gained independence in 1991.
They enhanced transparency of some election procedures, provided both
training for election officials and voter education, and unveiled
a new centralized computer-based voter registry. Many candidates
campaigned dynamically and visibly -- with vital media coverage --
and women made gains, winning 12 seats, up from seven.
In a joint statement the day after elections, the IEOM and OSCE-ODIHR
"congratulated the Armenian people on showing the will to hold
democratic elections" and for "making a further step towards European
democratic values."
Many critics, however, say violations also may have grown more
sophisticated. "The elections were falsified with such surgical
precision that I cannot stop admiring the level of sophistication
behind the whole affair," said Tevan Poghosyan, director of the
International Center for Human Development, an Armenian think tank.
"I just wish the actual politics and democratic reforms were done
with so much precision and effort."
In its initial findings, IEOM did note several problems, including
"substantial gaps" in the election's regulatory framework.
"Existing regulations to address important areas of the electoral
process, such as early campaigning and issues of possible vote-buying,
were not implemented," an IEOM statement said. "The intertwining
at all levels of political and business interests was of concern,
especially in view of relatively weak provisions and enforcement
regarding transparency disclosure of campaign finances."
The statement also noted that authorities generally failed to correct
reported irregularities or act upon publicly identified concerns.
Instead, they awaited any formal filing of complaints - which brought
to light several inconsistencies with the law.
IEOM observers assessed vote-counting in 17 percent of polling stations
as "bad" or "very bad." They attributed this to numerous instances
in which a voter's ballot choice was either not declared or shown to
local authorities. The IEOM also suggested that almost 8 percent of
polling stations made significant procedural errors or omissions.
Moreover, calls to an election hotline alleged incidents of bribery
- buying votes for bags of potatoes or crisp 5,000 dram notes (the
equivalent of 10 euros) - and people voting twice. There were also
reported instances of entire villages of voters arriving in buses
and being told to vote for a particular person.
OUTCOME STILL QUESTIONED
So when the Constitutional Court in early June ruled against a small
number of opposition figures and said the election results were valid,
Hovhannisian and other forces acted.
"By validating an election that does not meet international and
Armenian standards, they thereby leave the administration and
the public servants more vulnerable then they were previously,"
Hovhannisian said. "Armenia needs a leadership that is ethical and
enjoys the public trust of being legitimately elected."
President Kocharian While agreeing that some improvements in the
electoral process were made, Heritage and the other main opposition
party, Country of Law (Orinats Yerkir), still accuse the majority
Republican Party of using its muscle to pull the strings necessary
to win on election day.
Hovhannisian alleges that two-thirds of Heritage's votes were
mysteriously taken away.
He also argues that other "damage was done long before election day."
"[There were] unequal conditions for participating parties in terms
of media access, getting access to use of billboards, and other modes
and ways of election campaigning. The government property was used
by the ruling parties for their own purposes," he said. "The unequal
application of campaign finance regulations resulted in Heritage and
a few other parties being handicapped in terms of inability to appear
on TV and radio."
Armenia's opposition parties have traditionally been small and largely
ineffective. But Hovhannisian vows Heritage will work with the Country
of Law deputies and independent deputies to promote "a new political
culture of cooperation."
"We will work to continuously remind our colleagues that under the
new constitutional amendments, Parliament has a very pivotal role in
the actual implementation of the principle of checks and balances,"
he said. "We will work to persuade them that every bill must be
scrutinized and analyzed carefully; that we must continuously work
towards increasing the rule of law, the dignity and standing of
the Armenian Parliament; work towards creating a normal political
process and certain political principles and priorities that define
the government and the oppositional coalition and the political
culture of cooperation between them."
Tied closely with these plans is Hovhannisian's goal of ensuring that
electoral conditions improve drastically in the 2008 presidential race.
"That is a challenge for our society, our nation, the opposition,
and the country at large," he said. "We must draw the lessons and
make the proper judgments so that the parliamentary elections do not
condition the upcoming presidential elections in 2008. A lot depends
on what happens this year - as to whether we will be able to surmount
the parochial, the short-sighted, and the small thinking in each of
us and to create a new consolidation of ideas and forces between the
civil society and the government."
In the 131-member National Assembly that convened in early June,
Country of Law controls 8 seats and Heritage 7 seats. Even if they
can muster the support of independent deputies and smaller political
groups, they cannot challenge the huge majority lead of the two
parties aligned with Kocharian -- the Republicans have 64 seats,
and their allied party, Prosperous Armenia, have 25.
by Irina Ghaplanyan
Transitions Online, Czech Republic
July 23 2007
A leading Armenian opposition figure stands by accusations that the
parliamentary election process was flawed.
YEREVAN, Armenia | Political parties allied to President Robert
Kocharian won a commanding majority in parliamentary elections
this spring, an outcome upheld by the nation's highest court. But
a leading opposition figure continues to argue that the election
process was unfair.
Kocharian's ruling Republican Party and its allies have been accused of
vote-buying and coercion, among other violations, adding to the former
Soviet republic's years of electoral woes. Kocharian gave a positive
assessment of the elections - an unsurprising response to a process
that proved fruitful for the president - and international observers
gave cautious praise for improvements over previous elections.
Raffi Hovhannisian Raffi Hovhannisian, the U.S.-born former foreign
secretary of Armenia and head of the opposition Heritage (Zharangutyun)
party, thinks otherwise.
"No European country, regardless of how its representatives might
assess the May 12 elections, would have allowed such conduct of
parliamentary elections in their own countries," he said.
Heritage joined with other opposition forces in alleging that the May
election was marred by problems and irregularities, but such charges
were dismissed by the Constitutional Court. "The elections did not meet
international standards, EU benchmarks, and even Armenian election
requirements, but most importantly they did not satisfy Armenia's
population at large," Hovhannisian told Transitions Online.
Hovhannisian, 48, was born in Fresno, California. He moved to Armenia
and became the independent country's first foreign minister from 1991
to 1992, after which he founded the Armenian Center for National
and International Studies. A political force to be reckoned with,
Hovhannisian has been seen as a threat to the ruling party for more
than a decade. Granted Armenian citizenship only in 2001, Hovhannisian
was prevented from running for president in 2003 because the national
constitution stipulates that candidates have a 10-year citizenship
status.
Rumors are circulating now that he will try to enter the presidential
race in 2008.
CAUTIOUS PRAISE FOR OUTCOME
In their initial reports after the May election, foreign observers
from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
and its Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR),
the International Election Observation Mission (IEOM), and the U.S.
State Department played up the positive. They pointed to modest but
noteworthy progress, lauding the vote as a step in the country's
democratic development. Party programs and campaigns, the observers
noted, proved more sophisticated and transparent than ever.
Armenian authorities did show greater willingness to conduct clean
elections than they have since Armenia gained independence in 1991.
They enhanced transparency of some election procedures, provided both
training for election officials and voter education, and unveiled
a new centralized computer-based voter registry. Many candidates
campaigned dynamically and visibly -- with vital media coverage --
and women made gains, winning 12 seats, up from seven.
In a joint statement the day after elections, the IEOM and OSCE-ODIHR
"congratulated the Armenian people on showing the will to hold
democratic elections" and for "making a further step towards European
democratic values."
Many critics, however, say violations also may have grown more
sophisticated. "The elections were falsified with such surgical
precision that I cannot stop admiring the level of sophistication
behind the whole affair," said Tevan Poghosyan, director of the
International Center for Human Development, an Armenian think tank.
"I just wish the actual politics and democratic reforms were done
with so much precision and effort."
In its initial findings, IEOM did note several problems, including
"substantial gaps" in the election's regulatory framework.
"Existing regulations to address important areas of the electoral
process, such as early campaigning and issues of possible vote-buying,
were not implemented," an IEOM statement said. "The intertwining
at all levels of political and business interests was of concern,
especially in view of relatively weak provisions and enforcement
regarding transparency disclosure of campaign finances."
The statement also noted that authorities generally failed to correct
reported irregularities or act upon publicly identified concerns.
Instead, they awaited any formal filing of complaints - which brought
to light several inconsistencies with the law.
IEOM observers assessed vote-counting in 17 percent of polling stations
as "bad" or "very bad." They attributed this to numerous instances
in which a voter's ballot choice was either not declared or shown to
local authorities. The IEOM also suggested that almost 8 percent of
polling stations made significant procedural errors or omissions.
Moreover, calls to an election hotline alleged incidents of bribery
- buying votes for bags of potatoes or crisp 5,000 dram notes (the
equivalent of 10 euros) - and people voting twice. There were also
reported instances of entire villages of voters arriving in buses
and being told to vote for a particular person.
OUTCOME STILL QUESTIONED
So when the Constitutional Court in early June ruled against a small
number of opposition figures and said the election results were valid,
Hovhannisian and other forces acted.
"By validating an election that does not meet international and
Armenian standards, they thereby leave the administration and
the public servants more vulnerable then they were previously,"
Hovhannisian said. "Armenia needs a leadership that is ethical and
enjoys the public trust of being legitimately elected."
President Kocharian While agreeing that some improvements in the
electoral process were made, Heritage and the other main opposition
party, Country of Law (Orinats Yerkir), still accuse the majority
Republican Party of using its muscle to pull the strings necessary
to win on election day.
Hovhannisian alleges that two-thirds of Heritage's votes were
mysteriously taken away.
He also argues that other "damage was done long before election day."
"[There were] unequal conditions for participating parties in terms
of media access, getting access to use of billboards, and other modes
and ways of election campaigning. The government property was used
by the ruling parties for their own purposes," he said. "The unequal
application of campaign finance regulations resulted in Heritage and
a few other parties being handicapped in terms of inability to appear
on TV and radio."
Armenia's opposition parties have traditionally been small and largely
ineffective. But Hovhannisian vows Heritage will work with the Country
of Law deputies and independent deputies to promote "a new political
culture of cooperation."
"We will work to continuously remind our colleagues that under the
new constitutional amendments, Parliament has a very pivotal role in
the actual implementation of the principle of checks and balances,"
he said. "We will work to persuade them that every bill must be
scrutinized and analyzed carefully; that we must continuously work
towards increasing the rule of law, the dignity and standing of
the Armenian Parliament; work towards creating a normal political
process and certain political principles and priorities that define
the government and the oppositional coalition and the political
culture of cooperation between them."
Tied closely with these plans is Hovhannisian's goal of ensuring that
electoral conditions improve drastically in the 2008 presidential race.
"That is a challenge for our society, our nation, the opposition,
and the country at large," he said. "We must draw the lessons and
make the proper judgments so that the parliamentary elections do not
condition the upcoming presidential elections in 2008. A lot depends
on what happens this year - as to whether we will be able to surmount
the parochial, the short-sighted, and the small thinking in each of
us and to create a new consolidation of ideas and forces between the
civil society and the government."
In the 131-member National Assembly that convened in early June,
Country of Law controls 8 seats and Heritage 7 seats. Even if they
can muster the support of independent deputies and smaller political
groups, they cannot challenge the huge majority lead of the two
parties aligned with Kocharian -- the Republicans have 64 seats,
and their allied party, Prosperous Armenia, have 25.