“The fate of Armenia depends on one person, and this one person is you,” read sheets of paper pasted on the base of a monument in Yerevan’s Freedom Square. But as Armenia’s opposition pushes ahead with plans to contest the May 12 parliamentary vote results, emphasis is increasingly being put on the need for joint action.

Turnout, however, was low at a May 18 pan-opposition rally to protest alleged election result falsification; the numbers of attendees were smaller than at an initial demonstration held immediately following election day.

Observers have said the failure to form such a coalition for the May 12 parliamentary vote partly explains the opposition’s weak showing in the new National Assembly. That history of discord could put long odds on the parties’ ability to now join together to contest the election results.

The one point on which most opposition parties appear to agree is that the official preliminary election results, which handed pro-government parties complete control of the legislature, were rigged.

At a May 16 press conference, Heritage Party leader Raffi Hovannisian claimed that his party had received not 80,000 votes (roughly 5.82 percent of the vote), but 250,000. “We all saw how after midnight [on May 13] that 250,000 was reduced to 80,000 through invalid ballots, miscounts and other means,” Hovannisian claimed. “And when European observers declare progress, perhaps the progress is that 250,000 [votes] were not reduced to 25,000, but that 80,000 [of the actual votes] remained.”

Hovannisian added, however that the party’s “documented proof” of such falsification is by itself “insufficient.” For that reason, he said, the party will share its findings with “our partners.”

[…]

Nonetheless, although both opposition parties claim the election results are inaccurate — Heritage Party’s Hovannisian calling the election process unbecoming not only to Armenians, but to “humans in general” — neither has indicated it will give up its seats in parliament.

Orinats Yerkir has termed boycotting parliament an incorrect way of struggling against the government; an earlier opposition boycott in 2004 proved glaringly unsuccessful.

[…]

Some opposition members have also taken up that declaration. As a prelude to the May 18 protest, Nikol Pashinian, an Impeachment bloc leader, staged a two-day round-the-clock sit-in in Liberty Square to protest the election results. Former world boxing champion Israyel Hakobkokhian, who ran for parliament as a non-partisan candidate, has declared a hunger strike.

[…]

In response to the allegations of vote tampering, Central Election Commission spokesperson Tsovinar Khachatrian repeated earlier assurances that everything is “normal” with the vote count and results.

Since May 12, she told EurasiaNet, the Commission has received only seven complaints about election results for both party lists and first-past-the-post races. Recounts have “been implemented, with no essential changes in the results,” she said.

Meanwhile, the opposition parties protesting in Liberty Square have scheduled their next demonstration for May 25.

OBSERVERS SAY ELECTIONS IN ARMENIA DEMOCRATIC

ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 17 2007

ST. PETERSBURG, May 16 (Itar-Tass) — All observers said the May 12 parliamentary elections in Armenia were democratic.

CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly Chairman Mikhail Krotov told a press conference on Wednesday that the observers had confirmed Armenia’s compliance with its international obligations regarding democratic elections, electoral rights and freedom of all participants.

[…]

Meanwhile, Armenia’s opposition party Orinar Erkir (the Country of Law) is preparing a complaint to the Constitutional Court about violations during the elections but will not give up seats in the new parliament.

The leader of this centre-right radical opposition party, former parliament speaker Artur Bagdasaryan said the complaint concerned the results of voting at 400 polling stations where the party’s performance was “deliberately understated”.

In his words, there was “mass bribery of voters” on the day of the voting.

Bagdasaryan urged all political forces to provide his party with evidence of falsifications and violations during the elections.

“If necessary, we will go to the European Court,” he warned.

Bagdasaryan, 39, who is going to run for presidency in 2008, admitted some positive changes in the electoral process. He said law enforcement agencies had not put pressure on candidates in the majoritarian constituencies, no theft of ballot boxes had been reported, and no mass power failures had occurred.

According to the politician, violations occurred not at the polling stations but outside them.

[…]

However the European Union said the elections in Armenia were on the whole fair and free and consistent with the country’s international commitments.

Armenia’s most radical opposition groups said they will join more moderate opposition parties in contesting the official election results in the court as they again rallied thousands of supporters in Yerevan on Friday.

The move came as another indication that the Hanrapetutyun and Nor Zhamanakner parties and the Impeachment bloc will avoid a potentially violent confrontation with the Armenian authorities for the time being. Nor Zhamanakner already announced on Thursday that it will ask the Constitutional Court to annul the official results of the May 12 parliamentary elections that gave a crushing victory to political allies of President Robert Kocharian.

Hanrapetutyun leader Aram Sarkisian and another prominent oppositionist, Stepan Demirchian of the People’s Party of Armenia (HZhK), told about three thousand supporters that they will also file separate lawsuits.

“We are preparing documents to appeal to the Constitutional Court, and we will need your support. We have to stand firm and be consistent,” Sarkisian said in his speech at the rally held in the city’s Liberty Square.

“I promise all of you, all international observers, the entire world watching Armenia that we will submit such facts that will leave no doubts that the elections were rigged,” he said, promising a “tough fight” in Armenia’s top court.

[…]

The opposition trio have so far failed to pull crowds big enough to threaten the Kocharian administration’s hold on power. Many opposition activists and supporters are clearly demoralized by Western observers’ positive evaluation of the authorities’ conduct of the elections.

Also addressing the crowd were Demirchian and Heghine Bisharian, a leading member of former parliament speaker Artur Baghdasarian’s Orinats Yerkir Party. The latter also intends to appeal the election results in the Constitutional Court despite winning more parliament seats than any other opposition force.

“We will fight with all opposition force for a free and democratic Armenia,” said Bisharian.

Not only did a senior representative of Orinats Yerkir did take part, but a senior representative of Heritage watched on from a nearby cafe. In an ideal world, and possibly mirroring a similar situation in Azerbaijan in the parliamentary election held there in 2005, results from a few polling stations might be annulled.

Let’s see.

Meanwhile RFE/RL’s Press Review has some summarized translations of what the local press has to say.

“Hayots Ashkhar” says leaders of the Armenian opposition have failed to learn any lessons from their defeat in the May 12 parliamentary elections. “The [final] results of the parliamentary elections have not yet been released, but half a dozen opposition leaders have already announced their resolve to stand in and win the forthcoming parliamentary elections,” writes the paper. It says there are no signs that any of them is ready to withdraw from the unfolding presidential race for the sake of opposition unity.

“The public has not yet recovered from a deep disappointment that resulted from the opposition’s inability to unite, but big and small opposition leaders consider the problem of the National Assembly elections resolved and are already talking about their brilliant and ‘crushing’ victory in the 2008 presidential elections,” writes “Iskakan Iravunk.” “In effect, it is already clear that the opposition will also be fragmented in 2008 by acting with numerous and diverse candidates. For some people, the results of the elections to the National Assembly are probably not interesting anymore.”

“Serzh Sarkisian has essentially succeeded in solving the issue of his future presidency,” says “Chorrord Ishkhanutyun.” “Not only has he declared that he will put forward his candidacy but has done everything to ensure that he is challenged by highly unsavory [opposition] figures who make him look like an angel against such a backdrop.”

[…]

“In general, when social polarization is strong and socioeconomic conditions are severe, any people, be it in Africa, Georgia, or Uzbekistan, simply can not re-elect a government responsible for their plight,” comments “Taregir.” “Therefore, the challenge for our oppositionists was to keep the people’s vote.” But, says the paper, the three opposition parties that are represented in all election commissions failed to seriously oversee the voting and counting of ballots. It suggests that most of their commissions members were either bribed or intimidated.

OY not going to boycott parliament work
16.05.2007 17:00 GMT+04:00 Print version Send to mail In Russian In Armenian

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Orinats Yerkir party intends to join the opposition rally May 18, Artur Baghdassaryan told a news conference in Yerevan today. “We will urge the attendees to appeal to the Constitutional Court for re-counting of votes and will represent all violations fixed by our observers during the election campaign and the election day,” Baghdassaryan said adding his party is not going to join the radical opposition “against anyone.” Our target is to restore legitimacy in the republic by constitutional means,” he said.

Baghdassaryan also said the OY will not boycott the work of the parliament. “Boycott is not the best way of activity. We will efficiently participate in the work of legislative body,” he said.

The OY gained 7,04% of votes (some 100 thousand). Artur Baghdassaryan was the Speaker of the 3rd convocation parliament and then resigned. The OY served on the coalition with the Republican Party of Armenia and ARF Dashnaktsutyun.

PARTIES IN PARLIAMENT SHOULD UNITE AGAINST RULING PARTY - ARMENIAN POLITICIAN

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
16 May 07

[Presenter] The leader of the National Democratic Union, which did not run in the parliamentary election, Vazgen Manukyan, has a suggestion for parties that have entered the parliament. The Prosperous Armenian Party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation - Dashnaktsutyun, the Orinats Yerkir (Law-governed country) Party and the Heritage Party should set up an opposition coalition against the Republican Party [of Armenia].

Vazgen Manukyan also alleges that there will be changes within the opposition. Manukyan assessed as wrong the failure of the opposition to unite ahead of the [12 May parliamentary] election. Now, he thinks that the opposition will unite before the [2008] presidential election.

Manukyan confirmed his intention to participate in the presidential election. He said that 2007 was a lesson for the opposition. They got rid of the “Saakashvili syndrome”. The election showed that nothing can be changed only through mass gatherings. An organized force is necessary.

[Manukyan] There will be unification. Many candidates who intended to run for the presidency before [the parliamentary election] already doubt whether they should or not put forward their candidacies. On the other hand, many realized that it would have been correct to unite.

The issue of uniting should not be from the viewpoint of whom people favour. It should address the question of who can win and later justify his victory.