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Not So Fast... Armenia's own Parliament Subverts the Democratic Process
By MassisPost
Updated: December 29, 2013
http://massispost.com/archives/10383
By Richard Giragosian
Armenia has never been known for either upholding the democratic
standards or conducting truly uncontested free and fair elections, but
even on Armenian standards, a controversial vote in the Armenian
parliament has seriously undermined, and embarrassed, the country's
already feeble democratic process.
More specifically, as hundreds of demonstrators protested outside of
the parliament, the ruling Republican Party demonstrated that to vote
in the Armenian parliament, only a majority, and not the rules or
procedures count.
After the parliamentary leadership called for an open vote with a show
of hands, some 77 deputies from the ruling Republican Party `voted' to
approve a highly controversial gas agreement with Russia, which
critics consider a serious blow to Armenia's sovereignty.
While the deal itself was already dubious, it is the manner in which
the pro-government bloc forced the result, in violation of the
democratic process, which raises even more serious concerns. Moreover,
as the parliamentary opposition has pointed out, the conduct of the
vote itself was in violation of the rules, and declared that the vote
was therefore `null and void.' In a joint statement, they cited the
National Assembly's statutes stipulating that if the electronic system
is not used, votes should be counted by a special parliamentary
commission, comprised of representatives from all parties in the
parliament. Instead, the vote count was done by parliament speaker
Hovik Abrahamian and his two deputies, with no participation of any
opposition or independent deputies.
Thus, the real meaning of today's incident is the message is sends to
those aspiring to a more democratic Armenia: `not so fast.' But for
those idealists who have not yet given up the fight for democracy, and
for those opposition deputies fighting to defend the democratic
process, the message is even louder: `NOT SO FAST.'
The issue was the ratification of a deal that was signed during
Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent visit to Armenia, and that
formalized the sale of the Armenian government's 20 percent share in
the domestic gas distribution network to Russia's Gazprom monopoly. In
return, Gazprom promised to write off a $300 million which the
government has incurred as a result of secretly subsidizing the price
of Russian natural gas supplied to Armenia since 2011.
More importantly, the deal stipulates that the current and future
Armenian governments cannot raise taxes or make any other changes in
the regulatory environment for the Gazprom-owned network until January
2044. The Armenian side is also obliged to ensure that domestic gas
tariffs in the country are high enough for Gazprom to recoup 9 percent
of its capital investments in the network annually, which the media
lambasted as undeserved and `unprecedented privileges' for Russia.
Clearly, a difficult year is ahead for Armenia.
Richard Giragosian is the Director of Regional Studies Center
By MassisPost
Updated: December 29, 2013
http://massispost.com/archives/10383
By Richard Giragosian
Armenia has never been known for either upholding the democratic
standards or conducting truly uncontested free and fair elections, but
even on Armenian standards, a controversial vote in the Armenian
parliament has seriously undermined, and embarrassed, the country's
already feeble democratic process.
More specifically, as hundreds of demonstrators protested outside of
the parliament, the ruling Republican Party demonstrated that to vote
in the Armenian parliament, only a majority, and not the rules or
procedures count.
After the parliamentary leadership called for an open vote with a show
of hands, some 77 deputies from the ruling Republican Party `voted' to
approve a highly controversial gas agreement with Russia, which
critics consider a serious blow to Armenia's sovereignty.
While the deal itself was already dubious, it is the manner in which
the pro-government bloc forced the result, in violation of the
democratic process, which raises even more serious concerns. Moreover,
as the parliamentary opposition has pointed out, the conduct of the
vote itself was in violation of the rules, and declared that the vote
was therefore `null and void.' In a joint statement, they cited the
National Assembly's statutes stipulating that if the electronic system
is not used, votes should be counted by a special parliamentary
commission, comprised of representatives from all parties in the
parliament. Instead, the vote count was done by parliament speaker
Hovik Abrahamian and his two deputies, with no participation of any
opposition or independent deputies.
Thus, the real meaning of today's incident is the message is sends to
those aspiring to a more democratic Armenia: `not so fast.' But for
those idealists who have not yet given up the fight for democracy, and
for those opposition deputies fighting to defend the democratic
process, the message is even louder: `NOT SO FAST.'
The issue was the ratification of a deal that was signed during
Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent visit to Armenia, and that
formalized the sale of the Armenian government's 20 percent share in
the domestic gas distribution network to Russia's Gazprom monopoly. In
return, Gazprom promised to write off a $300 million which the
government has incurred as a result of secretly subsidizing the price
of Russian natural gas supplied to Armenia since 2011.
More importantly, the deal stipulates that the current and future
Armenian governments cannot raise taxes or make any other changes in
the regulatory environment for the Gazprom-owned network until January
2044. The Armenian side is also obliged to ensure that domestic gas
tariffs in the country are high enough for Gazprom to recoup 9 percent
of its capital investments in the network annually, which the media
lambasted as undeserved and `unprecedented privileges' for Russia.
Clearly, a difficult year is ahead for Armenia.
Richard Giragosian is the Director of Regional Studies Center