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OPPOSITION SEEKS KEY CHANGES IN ARMENIAN ELECTION LAW
By Astghik Bedevian
Radio LIberty, Czech Rep.
Nov 27 2007
The opposition minority in the Armenian parliament proposed on Tuesday
fresh amendments to the country's Election Code, saying they would
prevent a possible falsification of the February 19 presidential
election.
The parliament factions of the Orinats Yerkir and Zharangutyun parties
said other amendments to the code that were adopted by the National
Assembly earlier this month are too insignificant to complicate
vote rigging.
The package of 16 draft amendments jointly circulated by them is
primarily directed against multiple voting and vote buying, practices
which opposition leaders claim were instrumental in pro-government
parties' landslide victory in the May parliamentary elections. It
includes two specific changes demanded by former President Levon
Ter-Petrosian at a recent rally. Those envisage that all ballots for
the vote will be printed in a European Union member state and that
voters casting them will have their fingers marked by indelible ink.
Ter-Petrosian alleged that the Armenian authorities printed hundreds
of thousands of extra ballots ahead of the May elections and bribed
tens of thousands of people to vote for pro-government parties in
more than one polling station. He urged the international community
to pressure the Armenian authorities into enacting these changes.
"The experience of the last elections exposed the numerous ways of
ensuring multiple voting by a single person," said Vartan Khachatrian,
a Zharangutyun parliament and co-sponsor of the draft legislation.
The authorities already rejected the idea of inking voters' fingers
a year ago and during the adoption of the most recent changes in the
Election Code. They enacted instead a provision requiring election
officials to put special stamps in the passports of Armenians going
to the polls.
Zharangutyun and Orinats Yerkir are also seeking a stricter ban on
vote buying which wealthy pro-government candidates often present as
an act of benevolence or "humanitarian assistance" to voters. The
Election Code already prohibits provision of any goods or services
during election campaigns. But the clause did not prevent some
contenders of the May polls, notably the pro-presidential Prosperous
Armenia Party, from handing out lavish gifts to local communities
and individual voters.
The opposition bill would also place limits on the price of political
advertising set by Armenian TV and radio stations. In particular,
they would be banned from making election campaign ads more expensive
than regular commercials aired by them.
Both opposition parties, who control only 15 seats in the 131-member
National Assembly, admitted that their chances of pushing the
amendments through the legislature are slim. "We can't be very
hopeful," Hovannes Markarian of Orinats Yerkir told RFE/RL. "Some of
our proposals were already rejected this month."
"In any case, we must give it a try because we are accountable to
the public," said Khachatrian.
Samvel Nikoyan, a senior lawmaker from the governing Republican Party
(HHK), made it clear that the opposition bill is unlikely to even reach
the parliament floor. "The electoral process has already started,"
he told RFE/RL. "It is meaningless and inadmissible to change rules
mid-way through the process."
"They [the opposition minority] are well aware that their proposals
will never be debated at the National Assembly," said Nikoyan.
By Astghik Bedevian
Radio LIberty, Czech Rep.
Nov 27 2007
The opposition minority in the Armenian parliament proposed on Tuesday
fresh amendments to the country's Election Code, saying they would
prevent a possible falsification of the February 19 presidential
election.
The parliament factions of the Orinats Yerkir and Zharangutyun parties
said other amendments to the code that were adopted by the National
Assembly earlier this month are too insignificant to complicate
vote rigging.
The package of 16 draft amendments jointly circulated by them is
primarily directed against multiple voting and vote buying, practices
which opposition leaders claim were instrumental in pro-government
parties' landslide victory in the May parliamentary elections. It
includes two specific changes demanded by former President Levon
Ter-Petrosian at a recent rally. Those envisage that all ballots for
the vote will be printed in a European Union member state and that
voters casting them will have their fingers marked by indelible ink.
Ter-Petrosian alleged that the Armenian authorities printed hundreds
of thousands of extra ballots ahead of the May elections and bribed
tens of thousands of people to vote for pro-government parties in
more than one polling station. He urged the international community
to pressure the Armenian authorities into enacting these changes.
"The experience of the last elections exposed the numerous ways of
ensuring multiple voting by a single person," said Vartan Khachatrian,
a Zharangutyun parliament and co-sponsor of the draft legislation.
The authorities already rejected the idea of inking voters' fingers
a year ago and during the adoption of the most recent changes in the
Election Code. They enacted instead a provision requiring election
officials to put special stamps in the passports of Armenians going
to the polls.
Zharangutyun and Orinats Yerkir are also seeking a stricter ban on
vote buying which wealthy pro-government candidates often present as
an act of benevolence or "humanitarian assistance" to voters. The
Election Code already prohibits provision of any goods or services
during election campaigns. But the clause did not prevent some
contenders of the May polls, notably the pro-presidential Prosperous
Armenia Party, from handing out lavish gifts to local communities
and individual voters.
The opposition bill would also place limits on the price of political
advertising set by Armenian TV and radio stations. In particular,
they would be banned from making election campaign ads more expensive
than regular commercials aired by them.
Both opposition parties, who control only 15 seats in the 131-member
National Assembly, admitted that their chances of pushing the
amendments through the legislature are slim. "We can't be very
hopeful," Hovannes Markarian of Orinats Yerkir told RFE/RL. "Some of
our proposals were already rejected this month."
"In any case, we must give it a try because we are accountable to
the public," said Khachatrian.
Samvel Nikoyan, a senior lawmaker from the governing Republican Party
(HHK), made it clear that the opposition bill is unlikely to even reach
the parliament floor. "The electoral process has already started,"
he told RFE/RL. "It is meaningless and inadmissible to change rules
mid-way through the process."
"They [the opposition minority] are well aware that their proposals
will never be debated at the National Assembly," said Nikoyan.