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AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE CURRENT AUTHORITIES APPEARS IN ARMENIA
Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Feb 20 2013
David Stepanyan, Yerevan. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
According to preliminary data of the Central Electoral Commission,
after the counting of ballots from all 1,988 polling stations, as
a result of the sixth presidential elections in Armenia, incumbent
President Serzh Sargsyan, having gained 58.64% (861,160) of the votes,
won in the first round. His main rival, former Foreign Minister
of Armenia and leader of the opposition "Heritage" party, Raffi
Hovannisian, got 36.75% (539,672 votes). Other candidates received
minor percentages of votes. According to the preliminary data of
the CEC, 1,518,407 voters or 60.05% of the total electorate of the
country voted during the election.
In general, the results of the sixth Armenian presidential elections
were quite predictable. This was evidenced by a number of factors,
primarily - the variegated candidates. Even before the election,
it was clear that the main struggle, of course, if what happened
in the country on February 18 may be called so, will take place
between the incumbent president Sargsyan and Raffi Hovhannisyan. The
remaining candidates were only an appropriate backdrop for the
planned performance. And they brilliantly performed their role in
this play written by those in power; some did it consciously, others
not, and some for their own purposes. It is noteworthy that, to all
appearances, the team of republicans led by Serzh Sargsyan did not
intend to get 70-80% of the votes. In the current post-Soviet sad
reality, when the leaders of some countries "gain" up to 99% of the
votes, the republicans could only, so to speak, get 50% + 1 votes,
in order to prevent a second round with the participation of the
fairly unpredictable Raffi Hovannisian. This task was carried out by
the republicans, and with an "extra" 8.9 percent, since a minimal gap
could allow Hovannisian to demand a recount. Today, Serzh Sargsyan,
at first sight, at last, gained legitimacy, at least in the eyes
of the international community, the lack of which he felt after the
previous presidential election in 2008 followed by the tragedy and
loss of life on March 1.
This is shown by a preliminary assessment of the presidential election
by the representatives of the international observation missions. 6251
representatives of 26 community organizations and 632 observers of
twelve international organizations, including the ODIHR, the mission of
the CIS, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe, the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, the
International Expert Center for Electoral Systems (ICES) and the
International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) followed the
election in the country. One way or another, but they are able to
become aware of the fact that the elections in Armenia were held. And
they considered all recorded violations as insignificant and not
affecting the final outcome of the election. Judging by the public
response and reaction to the election results, people in Armenia do
not think so. Already on February 19 in front of the Central Electoral
Commission of Armenia an event "The death of stillborn democracy"
was held, during which the participants laid a funeral wreath at the
door of the CEC. Thus, the citizens of Armenia assessed the regular
election of Serzh Sargsyan as the demise of democracy. However,
media observers are also not very optimistic about the state of the
electoral processes in Armenia. For instance, according to a member
of the observation mission of the International Expert Center for
Electoral Systems ICES, Lydia Lawson, in some areas there was delivery
of voters, but the observers of the mission somehow never managed to
figure out the relationship between the drivers and the voters. It is
more than obvious that for Mrs. Lawson, if desired, it would be very
easy to get information about the nature of this relationship from
any voter or just a passer-by on the street. It so happened that in
today's "democratic" Armenia, the people have to almost beg election
bribes from people who tomorrow take back the same bribes taken with
a vengeance, unduly increasing the price of imported foreign products
and essential commodities in the first place.
Nevertheless, the Armenian oligarch monopoly forming the basis of the
current government has a lot of "justifications" for it. And the first
of them would be their position in case of the victory of opposition
candidate Raffi Hovannisian. In his election program Hovannisian
vowed to increase almost all the costs in the state budget by 50%
due to forced withdrawal of unscrupulous representatives of Armenian
businessfrom the "shadows", which would increase the budget by 300
billion drams. Considering the disappointing condition of Armenian
small and medium-sized businesses under imposed levies, it is not
difficult to imagine who would be dragged out of the "shadows" in the
first place. That is why the new term of Sargsyan and all the previous
government team at the helm is a vital necessity for the oligarchs.
As a result, local authorities, obeying and defending the interests
of the oligarchic power, have done everything they can to prevent
free elections. Typically, this was done not in Yerevan, stuffed
with international observers, but in especially remote areas. During
February 18, the media were attacked by the calls of voters and
representatives of Raffi Hovannisian about numerous violations
of the electoral law. When the situation was out of the control
of the authorities, and Hovannisian, bypassing Sargsyan, gained a
substantial proportion of the votes, the cases of ballot stuffing,
driving voters, double voting, and, finally, giving electoral bribes
directly at the polling stations became extremely numerous. Even
the official election results confirmed that in the Shirak region
Hovannisian bypassed Sargsyan. And if the election were really fair,
competitive and transparent, the victory of the opposition candidate
Raffi, at least, could not be ruled out.
Thus, the final point in all this action will be put not by the CEC
which has already recognized the victory of Serzh Sargsyan, but by
Hovannisian himself. Today, his supporters and all the citizens
who voted for him are waiting for the reaction of the leader of
"Heritage". And it is still unclear how Hovannisian, who repeatedly
stated his readiness to protect his voters, will behave. In any case,
after the refusal of the Armenian National Congress, "Dashnaktsutiun"
and "Prosperous Armenia" to participate in the elections, Raffi
Hovannisian and his "Legacy" were the main opposition force in Armenia
and, at last, created an alternative to the current government. And
37% of the formal votes of Armenian voters are the best proof of this
fact. .
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/articles/politics/37244.html
Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Feb 20 2013
David Stepanyan, Yerevan. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
According to preliminary data of the Central Electoral Commission,
after the counting of ballots from all 1,988 polling stations, as
a result of the sixth presidential elections in Armenia, incumbent
President Serzh Sargsyan, having gained 58.64% (861,160) of the votes,
won in the first round. His main rival, former Foreign Minister
of Armenia and leader of the opposition "Heritage" party, Raffi
Hovannisian, got 36.75% (539,672 votes). Other candidates received
minor percentages of votes. According to the preliminary data of
the CEC, 1,518,407 voters or 60.05% of the total electorate of the
country voted during the election.
In general, the results of the sixth Armenian presidential elections
were quite predictable. This was evidenced by a number of factors,
primarily - the variegated candidates. Even before the election,
it was clear that the main struggle, of course, if what happened
in the country on February 18 may be called so, will take place
between the incumbent president Sargsyan and Raffi Hovhannisyan. The
remaining candidates were only an appropriate backdrop for the
planned performance. And they brilliantly performed their role in
this play written by those in power; some did it consciously, others
not, and some for their own purposes. It is noteworthy that, to all
appearances, the team of republicans led by Serzh Sargsyan did not
intend to get 70-80% of the votes. In the current post-Soviet sad
reality, when the leaders of some countries "gain" up to 99% of the
votes, the republicans could only, so to speak, get 50% + 1 votes,
in order to prevent a second round with the participation of the
fairly unpredictable Raffi Hovannisian. This task was carried out by
the republicans, and with an "extra" 8.9 percent, since a minimal gap
could allow Hovannisian to demand a recount. Today, Serzh Sargsyan,
at first sight, at last, gained legitimacy, at least in the eyes
of the international community, the lack of which he felt after the
previous presidential election in 2008 followed by the tragedy and
loss of life on March 1.
This is shown by a preliminary assessment of the presidential election
by the representatives of the international observation missions. 6251
representatives of 26 community organizations and 632 observers of
twelve international organizations, including the ODIHR, the mission of
the CIS, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe, the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, the
International Expert Center for Electoral Systems (ICES) and the
International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) followed the
election in the country. One way or another, but they are able to
become aware of the fact that the elections in Armenia were held. And
they considered all recorded violations as insignificant and not
affecting the final outcome of the election. Judging by the public
response and reaction to the election results, people in Armenia do
not think so. Already on February 19 in front of the Central Electoral
Commission of Armenia an event "The death of stillborn democracy"
was held, during which the participants laid a funeral wreath at the
door of the CEC. Thus, the citizens of Armenia assessed the regular
election of Serzh Sargsyan as the demise of democracy. However,
media observers are also not very optimistic about the state of the
electoral processes in Armenia. For instance, according to a member
of the observation mission of the International Expert Center for
Electoral Systems ICES, Lydia Lawson, in some areas there was delivery
of voters, but the observers of the mission somehow never managed to
figure out the relationship between the drivers and the voters. It is
more than obvious that for Mrs. Lawson, if desired, it would be very
easy to get information about the nature of this relationship from
any voter or just a passer-by on the street. It so happened that in
today's "democratic" Armenia, the people have to almost beg election
bribes from people who tomorrow take back the same bribes taken with
a vengeance, unduly increasing the price of imported foreign products
and essential commodities in the first place.
Nevertheless, the Armenian oligarch monopoly forming the basis of the
current government has a lot of "justifications" for it. And the first
of them would be their position in case of the victory of opposition
candidate Raffi Hovannisian. In his election program Hovannisian
vowed to increase almost all the costs in the state budget by 50%
due to forced withdrawal of unscrupulous representatives of Armenian
businessfrom the "shadows", which would increase the budget by 300
billion drams. Considering the disappointing condition of Armenian
small and medium-sized businesses under imposed levies, it is not
difficult to imagine who would be dragged out of the "shadows" in the
first place. That is why the new term of Sargsyan and all the previous
government team at the helm is a vital necessity for the oligarchs.
As a result, local authorities, obeying and defending the interests
of the oligarchic power, have done everything they can to prevent
free elections. Typically, this was done not in Yerevan, stuffed
with international observers, but in especially remote areas. During
February 18, the media were attacked by the calls of voters and
representatives of Raffi Hovannisian about numerous violations
of the electoral law. When the situation was out of the control
of the authorities, and Hovannisian, bypassing Sargsyan, gained a
substantial proportion of the votes, the cases of ballot stuffing,
driving voters, double voting, and, finally, giving electoral bribes
directly at the polling stations became extremely numerous. Even
the official election results confirmed that in the Shirak region
Hovannisian bypassed Sargsyan. And if the election were really fair,
competitive and transparent, the victory of the opposition candidate
Raffi, at least, could not be ruled out.
Thus, the final point in all this action will be put not by the CEC
which has already recognized the victory of Serzh Sargsyan, but by
Hovannisian himself. Today, his supporters and all the citizens
who voted for him are waiting for the reaction of the leader of
"Heritage". And it is still unclear how Hovannisian, who repeatedly
stated his readiness to protect his voters, will behave. In any case,
after the refusal of the Armenian National Congress, "Dashnaktsutiun"
and "Prosperous Armenia" to participate in the elections, Raffi
Hovannisian and his "Legacy" were the main opposition force in Armenia
and, at last, created an alternative to the current government. And
37% of the formal votes of Armenian voters are the best proof of this
fact. .
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/articles/politics/37244.html