OSCE/ODIHR Long Term Observer (LTO) Mina Rolovic-Jocic, Territorial Election Commission (TEC) #8, Malatia-Sebastia, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia for EurasiaNet 2007

Again as part of my work documenting the parliamentary election for EurasiaNet, I attended two trainings of Territorial Election Commission in Yerevan organized by IFES as part of the U.S. Government’s technical assistance to Armenia for the 12 May vote. Members of Precinct Election Commissions (PECs) will also be trained under the program.

Under this project, IFES and the CEC have trained 366 members of all 41 Territorial Election Commissions. Beginning in late April, over 17,000 members of all 1,923 Precinct Election Commissions will also be trained. The computers that we are presenting today will be used by the CEC to support communications with TEC and election results processing and help minimize the time between when the polling stations close and results are announced.

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Following on from what some civil society and pro-opposition activists are calling an “Armenian Watergate,” RFE/RL has an update on the apparent scandal surrounding the clandestine recording of a meeting between Orinats Yerkir party leader, Artur Baghdasarian, and the Deputy Head of Mission of the British Embassy, Richard Hyde, in February. Now, the Armenian President, Robert Kocharian, is reported to have accused Baghdasarian of treason.

Statements reportedly made by Armenia’s former parliament speaker Artur Baghdasarian in his secretly recorded conversation with a senior British diplomat constitute high treason, President Robert Kocharian claimed on Friday.

It was Kocharian’s first public reaction to the publication by a pro-presidential newspaper of purported details of Baghdasarian’s recent private meeting with the number two official in the British embassy in Yerevan. The leader of the opposition Orinats Yerkir Party was quoted as urging the European Union to criticize the Armenian authorities’ handling of the upcoming parliamentary elections.

“It’s hard to imagine that the former chairman of the National Assembly could fall so low,” Kocharian told students at Yerevan State University. “I don’t want to use legal terms. For me, this is a real manifestation of treason. That manifestation is all the more ugly given that it was done at his own initiative.”

Kocharian made it clear, however, that Baghdasarian will not be prosecuted under a relevant article of the Armenian Criminal Code. “We have received hundreds of phone calls in connection with that fact, various kinds of comments as to how such a politician can take part in the elections,” he said. “But I don’t think it would be right for state bodies to come up with some tough actions.

“The elections are coming up, and let every voter decide whether patriotism and dignity matters to them. If it doesn’t, let them vote [for Baghdasarian’s party.]”

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Vahan Babayan, Vice President of the Youth Party of Armenia, preparing for live campaign broadcasting, Public TV, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia for EurasiaNet 2007

As mentioned previously on this blog, one of the other important aspects of ensuring that the 12 parliamentary election meets international standards is access to the media. Already there is some controversy surrounding TV stations charging higher than commercial rates for political advertising or not accepting campaign ads at all. However, under the electoral code, all parties running in the election are guaranteed some free broadcasting time on Public TV.

Article 20. Pre-Election Campaign Through Mass Media

1. Presidential candidates and parties (party alliances) running for the National Assembly shall have the right to use paid and free air time (including live broadcasts) on Public Radio and Public Television, on equal conditions.

2. For every national election, the procedures for allocating free air time on Public Radio and Public Television to presidential candidates and parties (party alliances) running for the National Assembly, as well as the scheduling of such air time shall be set by the Central Electoral Commission on the following day after the deadline for registration of candidates.

3. Public Television and Public Radio shall be required to provide equal conditions for all candidates and parties (party alliances) running in any given election. News programs broadcast on Public Television and Public Radio shall present impartial and non-judgmental information about pre-election campaign run by candidates, parties or party alliances, making sure that fair and equal conditions are in place. The fact that certain candidates, parties or party alliances do not hold any campaign events or the lack of information about such events may not serve as grounds for the mass media to refrain from reporting on other participants’ campaigns.

[…]

5. Candidates and parties (party alliances) running for the National Assembly shall have the right to make use, on equal conditions, of air time on other radio and television stations, regardless of their form of ownership. The provisions of Paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Article shall equally apply to other radio and television stations, regardless of their form of ownership.

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I’m a bit late in posting this, but it’s probably worth doing so as most people are waiting for the final conclusion to be drawn on the conduct of the May parliamentary election to come from the OSCE/ODIHR. Anyway, it’s available in English here, and in Armenian here, and I’m posting the Executive Summary below.

Candidate registration has taken place in an inclusive manner. All twenty-four parties and one bloc that applied for registration in the proportional contest were registered by the Central Election Commission (CEC) on 4 April. In the majoritarian contests, 135 candidates were registered by the 41 Territorial Election Commissions (TECs).

· Many of the registered contestants in the proportional contest have exceeded the legal requirement of 15 per cent representation of women on their list.

· The CEC is generally working efficiently, appears to be technically well equipped and prepared for coordinating results tabulation and reporting on election day, and is proactive in informing the electorate about voter list checking and election day procedures. TECs are similarly working efficiently. The police, responsible for the voter list, are making efforts to correct inaccuracies in the list.

· The official election campaign opened on 8 April. Campaigning is very visible in Yerevan, but less so outside the capital. Airtime on public TV and radio was allocated by a CEC lottery, with broadcasts beginning on 10 April.

· Four incidents of damage to property of parties and candidates, including explosive devices detonating at two Yerevan neighbourhood offices of the Prosperous Armenia party, are under police investigation.

· Following the death of Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan on 25 March, President Robert Kocharyan appointed Serge Sargsyan as prime minister on 4 April. The president appointed a new cabinet on 11 April, largely unchanged from the outgoing government.

Earlier reports and updates are available here.

I wondered in a previous post how long it would be before Armenia’s pop stars did what they normally do during elections — that is, come out in support of the powers that be — and now it looks as though they have. Ironically, at least one of those who has lent her name to support for the ruling Republican Party was performing at a Prosperous Armenia concert last weekend.

YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS; A group of Armenian pop stars have announced today their support to the governing Republican Party.

Shushan Petrosian, Aramo, Suzan Margarian, Sirusho, Zaruhi Babayan, Arame, Arsen, Arminka, Alla Levonian (she was, by the way, appointed last week UNICEF Armenia Good Will Ambassador) and some others said they will be touring across the country to sing for voters and urge them to vote for the Republican Party.

Announcing their support at a news conference the singers explained they agreed to back the party because they share its ideology.

“The Republican Party is our friend and it has always been by our side helping many singers organize their concerts,” Shushan Petrosian said.

Suzan Margarian also praised the party for its support to Armenian pop stars saying now the time has come for them to pay back.

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Elections in Armenia are nothing short of exciting, and the news of the moment is a scandal that now surrounds the Orinats Yerkir party of former National Assembly Speaker Artur Baghdasarian and my own British Embassy. Apparently, Baghdasarian was secretly recorded urging the Deputy British Ambassador, Richard Hyde, to condemn the coming 12 May parliamentary election as already being undemocratic.

RFE/RL reports on the latest scandal to hit my Embassy.

The British embassy in Armenia condemned on Thursday the secret recording of a recent conversation between one of its diplomats and opposition leader Artur Baghdasarian that reportedly centered on the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Meanwhile, “Golos Armenii,” a newspaper sympathetic to the country’s leadership, published more excerpts from what it described as the transcript of the meeting held in a popular Yerevan restaurant last February. It also identified the diplomat in question as Richard Hyde, the deputy chief of the British mission.

[…]

Hyde was said to have responded that the Armenian authorities are very shrewd and cautious in ensuring a desirable outcome of the vote. “I suppose that they are smarter and wiser than we. And many Europeans understand that. There has to be some blatant violation in order for the EU to come up with such a statement,” he was quoted as saying.

[…]

The British mission denied “Golos Armenii” claims that such meetings constitute an illegal interference in Armenia’s internal affairs, saying that it maintains contacts with a broad range of Armenian parties contesting the elections. “This enables us to form as complete and objective a view as possible of the political process, and is in line with the normal and accepted practice of any embassy anywhere in the world,” it said.

“It is not, never has been and cannot be, our business to support the political platform of any specific political party,” added the statement.

[…]

Hyde allegedly told Baghdasarian that only three of the eight EU countries having diplomatic missions in Yerevan — Britain, Germany, and Poland — are genuinely interested in the freedom and fairness of the Armenian elections. He was also cited as predicting that two other prominent opposition leaders, Raffi Hovannisian and Vazgen Manukian, could boycott the parliamentary elections and concentrate instead on the presidential ballot due early next year. “This is what I would do in this situation,” the diplomat said, according to “Golos Armenii.”

Manukian’s National Democratic Union (AZhM) subsequently opted for an election boycott.

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Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisyan, Central Election Commission (CEC), Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia for EurasiaNet 2007

After last week’s visit to the Central Election Commission (CEC) to photograph the arrival of transparent ballot boxes from Syria, I returned yesterday to photograph the signing of an agreement between IFES, the U.S. Embassy and the Armenian Government for the provision of 10 computers and related equipment for the election.

IFES will handover the equipment during a ceremony at the CEC headquarters at 12:00 pm on Wednesday, April 25. Several high-ranking dignitaries will attend the event, including Armenian Prime Minister Serge Sargsian, U.S. Charge d’Affaires Anthony Godfrey and the Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission Garegin Azaryan.

IFES Chief of Party to Armenia Chedomir Flego said the equipment should greatly improve the transmission of elections results and the speed of communication between the CEC and Territorial Electoral Commissions.

“This equipment will modernize and make more efficient the process and will have a very significant impact on the clarity of the polls because it is during the process of transmitting election results from the Territorial Electoral Commissions to the Central Electoral Commission that it must be as accurate as possible,” said Flego.

The donation of computers and other equipment is part of IFES program to provide technical assistance to the CEC. IFES’ program aims to promote elections reform and the adoption of technology in order to improve the voting process for Armenian citizens.”

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Gagik Tsarukian, Prosperous Armenia Campaign Rally, Arabkir, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia for EurasiaNet 2007

As mentioned previously on this blog here, here, and here, it’s easy to see why the Prosperous Armenia founded by Armenia’s richest man, Gagik Tsarukian, has managed to attract widespread support ahead of the May parliamentary election. Basically, the opposition and governmental parties are considered to be two sides of the same coin, with neither better than the other.

Significantly, promises made during the campaign period will not be fulfilled, but at least say some voters, Tsarukian has created jobs, and is likely to do more of the same in the future. Meanwhile, the more cynical of potential voters see the election as a way to obtaining some short-term gain. EurasiaNet has more on this unfortunate reality in today’s Armenia.

Do ideas count in Armenia’s May 12 parliamentary vote? The answer appears to be no.

The unfulfilled promises of previous campaigns have left a large segment of the Armenian electorate feeling disillusioned. Pollsters, candidates and voters all state that handouts and free pop concerts are doing more to sway attitudes about a particular party or candidate than are specific policy proposals. Many Armenians, in fact, joke that a prize should be given to anyone who can find five differences between the platforms of the 24 parties competing for parliamentary seats.

Members of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly observation mission have bemoaned the lack of emphasis on public policy, telling journalists on April 14 that “no significant differences can be found in the platforms of the candidates and the parties.”

“Many perceive this election as a struggle between political elites, not ideas and principles,” said the PACE mission head, Leo Platvoet.

[…]

Gevorg Poghosian, head of the Armenian Sociological Association, said voters should not be faulted for harboring cynical attitudes toward the campaign. He pointed to past experience which shows that campaign promises are rarely kept. “They [potential voters] are simply tired of hearing about programs that can’t be realized, and understand that party promises and programs very rarely come true,” said Poghosian. “That is why they prefer making use of the moment and selling their votes.”

[…]

Such handouts — usually termed “acts of charity” — have become closely associated with the pro-government Prosperous Armenia Party, which has experienced a meteoric rise in its membership over the past year. Based on an early April survey of 2,000 respondents, the British pollster Populus estimates that the party, little known before last year, now commands the support of 27 percent of voters, slightly behind the ruling Republican Party of Armenia which reportedly has 31 percent of voters’ support.

Party members openly acknowledge that the party’s popularity is closely linked to the image of its leader, tycoon Gagik Tsarukian, who is viewed as a deep-pocketed benefactor. The provision of free bus rides for university students, or the establishment of regional healthcare clinics merely show that “he is capable of solving the problems and the social issues of which a significant part of the population complain,” said Vardan Bostanjian, a Prosperous Armenia candidate.

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Tsitsernakaberd, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2004

It’s 24 April again, but for the first time in the eight years I’ve been here in Armenia, it’s snowing. Therefore, it’s probably no surprise to discover that a significantly smaller number of people appear to have ventured up to Tsitsernakaberd. That appears evident from the images currently being shown live on TV, but it remains to be seen whether anything changes later. The snow fall was heavy earlier today, but is quite light now and certainly hasn’t settled.

Regardless, I won’t be venturing up to Tsitsernakaberd today either, but because of having two extended deadlines yet to meet by this evening. Instead, RFE/RL has a comprehensive report on the memorial in Yerevan today and confirms that less people turned out because of the unexpected freak weather conditions.

Gagik Tsarukian, BHK Campaign Rally, Arabkir District, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia for EurasiaNet 2007

Finally some photographs from yesterday’s campaign rally by Prosperous Armenia (BHK) in the Arabkir district of Yerevan and what was perhaps most interesting about this event compared to the one I attended in Malatia-Sebastia two weeks ago. Unlike then, some of Armenia’s top pop stars performed for the party in an event that might raise some further questions about campaign spending.

Of course, given the way the music industry is reliant on government-linked sponsors and called upon to return the favor from time to time, it’s possible that the stars which included Hasmik Karapetian and Sirusho donated their time to campaign for the party, but it would be useful to know for sure. There is already word that Prosperous Armenia has commissioned a blatantly partisan song from a local rap band, for example.

However, it’s worth pointing out that pop stars and the two main pro-government parties are not the only political forces engaged in such activities, as E-channel explains. After performing at the launch of the campaign by the opposition Heritage party, Arto Tuncboyajian and the Armenian Navy Band has also been performing for a minor pro-government party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D).

Arto Tunjboyajyan had his second concert in the election period. His first concert had started with his famous song Ararat at the campaign of Heritage party led by Raffi Hovhannisyan. The second concert was in the framework of the ARFP campaign.

The singer considers quite normal to be invited by various political forces to give concerts and is sure that Raffi Hovhannisyan will not be offended,

[…]

The concert at the Square of Freedom had been organized by ARFP Nikol Aghbalyan union and Armenian Youth Union. “The youth is not only our future but also our present. Dashnaktsutyun is the right choice, trust Dashnaktsutyun, get together around Dashnaktsutyun,” announced the member of the ARFP Supreme Council Ishkhan Saghatelyan before the concert.

[…]

Tunjboyajyan sang the famous song Ararat twice. In the framework of the ARFP campaign, the singer will perform in Gyumri on April 26 and in Vanadzor on April 27.

It would be again interesting to know if Tuncboyajian performed for free in both cases, and also whether Hasmik Karapetian, Sirusho, Arsen Grigorian and Arsen Safarian turn up at rallies by other political forces. I’m thinking specifically about campaign meetings staged by the ruling Republican party.

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Tactile Ballot Guide, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia for EurasiaNet 2007

As Chedomir Flego, Head of IFES in Armenia, mentioned in the recent interview I held with him last month, one innovation to be introduced for the parliamentary election is a tactile ballot guide to help blind people vote. On Saturday, Flego held a meeting with representatives of Armenia’s blind community to discuss the early test guides and to solicit feedback on how they can be improved before they are finalized.

Here’s how Flego described them in the interview.

We have selected a group of NGOs representing various groups with disabilities in Armenia, and one of the first projects will be to construct wheelchair ramps at selected polling stations where the presence of disabled voters is known. At the same time, wheelchairs can fit under tables and booths so they can vote in private as every other voter would.

[…] The second part of the project concerns blind voters, and we’re introducing what we call a tactile ballot guide — a special folder with squares cut out so that a blind person can vote in private and in secret without the assistance of another person. A regular ballot can be inserted in the guide with the cutout for each box where you mark your choice, and beside each will be a raised bump.

Through NGOs we will produce an audio guide informing blind voters which candidate is at which position on the ballot paper, and we’ll be announcing this on Friday in Yerevan with the disability groups.

The third part concerns itself with voter information. Disability groups have often said that they just don’t receive the same amount of information and they’re now working with the CEC so that all of the Public Service Announcements (PSAs) broadcast on television will include sign language. There are a series of activities like that, plus posters, leaflets, and other materials which will either be in large print for those who have problems with their eyesight, sign language or available as audio recordings.

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