Levon Ter Petrosian, Levon Ter Petrosian Rally, Liberty Square, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2007

When veteran British journalist Robert Fisk was recently in Yerevan, he remarked in a commentary written for The Independent that only in a country such as Armenia could a corrupt official seek election in competition with a former corrupt official. Fisk openly referred to the prime minister, Serzh Sarkisian, and former president, Levon Ter Petrosian. It’s no wonder, then, that most Armenians dislike both and many are confused as to who to vote for.

In between those in the minority who support either Sarkisian or Ter Petrosian, apart from a notable segment of civil society who support the latter and yearn for “regime change” usually by any means possible, is a larger mass of undecided voters. Unfortunately, they seem to be forgotten by the media loyal to the government, or sympathetic to the former first president of Armenia.

As opposition politician Vazgen Manukian commented recently, while many people are against the prime minister becoming president, there might be many more who are against the return of Ter Petrosian. Indeed, Manukian has good reason to say such things. It was after all Ter Petrosian who set Armenia on its path of electoral fraud and the oppression of opposition parties and activists in 1996.

The presidential election scheduled for Sept. 22, 1996, overshadowed other political developments throughout the year. Eager to avoid either jeopardizing the tenuous economic upswing that began in 1994 or exacerbating tensions within his party, the Pan-Armenian National Movement, incumbent Pres. Levon Ter-Petrosyan refused in late January to accept the resignation of Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan. Of the seven presidential candidates formally registered in August, three withdrew in mid-September and pledged their support for the leading opposition challenger to Ter-Petrosyan, former prime minister Vazgen Manukyan. International monitors registered serious violations during the poll and vote count and queried the legality of the official results that gave Ter-Petrosyan 51.75% and Manukyan 41.29% of the vote. Manukyan’s supporters launched mass demonstrations in Yerevan to protest alleged falsification of the vote and on September 25 attacked the parliament building. Fifty people were injured in ensuing clashes with government troops.

The full post is available on the Armenia Election Monitor 2008.