Just a quick note to remind readers that with the 19 February presidential election in Armenia just a week away, all blogging activity can be found on the Armenia Election Monitor 2008.

Vahan Hovannisian Pre-Election Campaign Rally, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008

It used to be that pro-opposition journalists constantly referred to attendances at a series of rallies by former president, Levon Ter-Petrossian, as being an indication of a high level of support in the country. Forgetting the fact that estimates for those rallies at anywhere between 20-100,000 were widely off the mark, the main problem with such an approach was forgotten.

That is, assembling what is in reality anywhere between 10-15,000 people, mainly consisting of actual supporters, is not so difficult and in the past two weeks, two other leading candidates for the 19 February presidential election in Armenia not only managed to likely exceed the number for Ter-Petrossian, but also eclipse them in terms spirit as well as by assembling a more diverse crowd made up of all ages and classes.

On Sunday that was evident at Artur Baghdasarian’s pre-election campaign rally in Liberty Square, and also at yesterday’s meeting held by Vahan Hovannisian and Armenian Revolutionary Federation — Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D). Despite the impressive showing in terms of rallies, in terms of support in society Baghdasarian narrowly leads Ter-Petrossian with 13.4 percent according to a British Populus poll, while Hovannisian has 7.6 percent.

Regardless, the ARF-D has shown itself to be better organized than any of the other challengers to the prime minister, Serge Sargsyan, especially when it comes to youth, and more mature in terms of actual campaigning. While Baghdasarian and especially Ter-Petrossian appear hell-bent on antagonizing the situation to the point of making clashes inevitable, Hovannisian has been critical, but also more aware of the need to attract votes by treating the electorate with a certain amount of respect.

Despite it’s previous obsession with seemingly only covering the pre-election campaign of Ter-Petrossian and Serge Sargsyan, RFE/RL’s English-language web site has more.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) rallied thousands of people in Yerevan on Friday to shore up voter support for its presidential candidate Vahan Hovannisian and urge Armenians to reject their current and former leaders.

Hovannisian, joined by other Dashnaktsutyun leaders, again sought to present himself as a viable alternative to the two mutually hostile camps that have taken the center stage in the Armenian presidential race. He also deplored a weak rule of law and a perceived lack of democracy in Armenia and pledged to “restore constitutional order” if elected president.

“The existing unjust and unfree situation allows the former authorities hiding their sins with that injustice to try to again play with the feelings of our people and base their election campaign on hatred,” Hovannisian, attacking former President Levon Ter-Petrosian and his allies.

“They are being met with the same hatred,” he said, referring to the country’s present leadership. “The behavior of the current authorities, which is the other extreme, contains the same hatred.”

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

Artur Baghdasarian Pre-Election Campaign Rally, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008

It was the largest pre-election campaign meeting in Yerevan’s Liberty Square to date. The organizers say 100,000 people gathered to hear Orinats Yerkir party leader and presidential candidate Artur Baghdasarian speak, but as we know that the area in the park behind the Yerevan Opera can’t hold more than 20-25,000 maximum, that’s pretty unlikely. It was nonetheless at least as large as any rally by another presidential contender, Levon Ter-Petrossian, and probably bigger.

Of course, as we saw in last year’s parliamentary election when Heritage favored actual campaigning to gathering as many existing supporters in one place for the media to cover, numbers aren’t everything. However, opinion polls currently show Baghdasarian in second place to the prime minister as election day draws closer. Moreover, like rallies staged by nearly every other candidate to date, those supporters gathered together, as if the size of a crowd you can assemble in Liberty Square equates to actual voting on polling day, were not just from Yerevan.

Even so, the meeting was impressive. Compared to similar meetings held by Ter-Petrossian, those attending were more representative of the broad spectrum of Armenian society and for sure they were louder and more enthusiastic. Significantly, among them were many more youth. Of note compared to other candidates contesting the vote against the presidential favorite Serge Sargsyan, Baghdasarian’s Orinats Yerkir is one of only two opposition parties currently represented in the Armenian National Assembly. The party polled 95,324 or 7.1 percent of the vote.

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

Komitas, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008

Today saw Serge Sargsyan pre-election campaign come to my doorstep — literally. Outside my apartment building, a stage erected the night before was having the final touches put to stacks of loud speakers as a huge banner depicting the prime minister and presidential election favorite was strung across above from one lamp post to another.

Security was also tighter than normal although it’s hard to tell whether that’s because of the shots fired first at the building housing the General Prosecutor’s Office and at two Sargsyan election campaign offices or not. Despite the extra concerns, however, security was still lighter than that surrounding the former president, Levon Ter-Petrossian. As usual, a mob of people tried to approach Sargsyan as he arrived and also as he left. Pretty much they could too.

Some controversy has been raised by Sargsyan’s campaign, and actually that of Kocharian in 2003 as well as the Republican party a few months later, and also during last year’s parliamentary election. In all three previous parliamentary and presidential elections, Armenia’s top pop stars have been paraded out to perform for the candidate or party of power. Sargsyan’s Republican party have certainly proven adept at controlling youth.

Today was no exception. From Shiker and Hayko to Susan Margaryan and her daughter, Eurovision Song Contest contestant Sirusho, it was a lineup to make any Armenian pop fan happy.

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

St. Vardanants, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008

This being the official pre-election campaign period it’s probably no surprise to discover that it’s impossible to escape campaigning for the presidential election to be held in less than three weeks time. Technically, the appearance of the prime minister, Serge Sargsyan, at the celebration of St. Vardanants today had nothing to do with the election, but of course in reality it did.

And because, also technically, the procession down Khanjian Street in central Yerevan was not political, it was almost certainly a sanctioned march. Even if it disrupted traffic the presence of Yerevan’s mayor, Yervan Zakarian, doubtless made the delays experienced by drivers worthwhile although it’s unlikely that anybody bothered to ask them. E-Channel has more.

On January 31, in relation with the St. Vardanants feast, the Araratyan Patriarchal Diocese and the Yerevan administration organized a crusade from St. Zoravor church to the Vardan Mamikonyan monument.

This crusade is a traditional one. Since the last year, the event is being conducted with the youth wing of Republican Party of Armenia (RPA.) This year, the Yerevan city administration was among the organizers, too. However, the main characteristic feature of the St. Vardanants feast crusade was prime minister, presidential candidate Serzh Sargsyan’s participation.

The presidential candidate had arrived to St. Zoravor church 10 minutes prior to the crusade and was waiting for the start with the gathered people. Among the attendees were numerous students wearing the jackets of ULNP – United Liberal National Party – supporting the nomination of Serzh Sargsyan.

There were lots of women, students, schoolchildren that approached Serzh Sargsyan, asking to have a picture with him. The candidate did not turn anyone down.

Navasard Archbishop Kchoyan, the Araratyan diocese vicar, arrived, and the crusade started. In the first line were the priests taking the cross, a rider on a white horse symbolizing Vardan Mamikonyan, and military people. During the whole crusade, the brass band of the RA Police Forces was playing a march.

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

Ortachiya, Aragatsotn Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2006

The break-up of the former Soviet Union has given Armenia’s largest minority, the Yezidis, new freedoms. But this has proven to be a mixed blessing, as geopolitical and historical concerns have riven the small community. Text and photography by Onnik Krikorian

Nestled at the foot of Mount Aragats, Armenia’s highest peak, the villages of Riya Taza and Alagyaz hardly merit more than a passing glance from motorists heading north towards the border with Georgia. Elderly women dressed in colourful garb nonetheless line the road, while children play nearby among rusting abandoned vehicles and farmers herd their cattle in the surrounding pastures. Few stop at the makeshift shacks selling basic groceries and provisions on the roadside. In fact, nobody pays much attention at all.

But for academics from as far away as the UK, France, Germany and Japan, these small, impoverished villages are a dream come true. Located 60 kilometres from Yerevan, the Armenian capital, Riya Taza, Alagyaz and other villages interconnected by pockmarked roads are home to one of the biggest concentrations of Yezidis in the country.

The full feature story accompanied by photographs is available in the January issue of Geographical, the magazine of the Royal Geographical Society, or online at http://geographical.co.uk/Features/Yezidis_Jan_08.html.

Vahan Hovannisian, Dilijan, Tavoush Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008

Saturday’s pre-election campaign by Armenian Revolutionary Federation — Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) presidential candidate Vahan Hovannisian in the north-eastern Tavoush region marked a refreshing change. Rather than follow the predictable revolutionary politics of the street by former president, Levon Ter-Petrossian, or the carefully stage-managed media moments of the prime minister, Serge Sargsyan, Hovannisian actually did something somewhat unique for Armenia. He actually campaigned.

Indeed, the party’s attempt to bring new campaigning technology into the area of elections has been noticed by everybody since last year’s parliamentary election in Armenia. Coupled with the fact that the party has not been as personality-based as others, many consider that it has the most democratic structure in the country. Moreover, its standing as the oldest active political party in Armenia paid off during the 2007 parliamentary vote. The ARF-D attracted 177,907 or 13.2 percent of the vote.

As a member of Socialist International, the party also has a very definite left-wing orientation, but its more nationalist policies on Azerbaijan and Turkey might lead some to consider it more national-socialist than socialist. Interestingy, its campaign promise to increase pensions during the May 2007 parliamentary election were dismissed by the prime minister as unachievable although somewhat ironically, Sargsyan went on to do the same anyway.

Writing for E-Channel, Gor Abrahamyan assessed Hovannisian’s campaign as well as his chances of contesting next month’s vote.

The ARFP candidate had two strong resources for the start. First of all, the traditionally stable and guaranteed segment of voters for Dashnaktsutyun. Secondly, the strong discipline maintained inside the party, which was demonstrated during the parliamentary elections in May, 2007. Vahan Hovhannisyan’s propaganda is also different from the others since he has been promoting the team, the party, the platform and the ideology. None of the teams of any of the candidates taking part in the elections can be striking with such characteristic features.

ARFP introduces completely new technologies to the Armenian political culture that evoke certain interest in the activities of Vahan Hovhannisyan’s electoral headquarters and, consequently, also the candidate of ARFP. […] They have been conveying a more civilized nature to the ARFP campaign, not allowing giving due to the woven political intrigues.

ARFP is the only force involved in electoral struggle least expected to reject nomination in favor of another candidate. After the parliamentary elections in 2007, ARFP allowed no digression from its adopted path, remaining loyal to the position of participating in the presidential elections with his own candidate. It was obvious from the beginning that the party, having received positions from RPA, would take advantage of the administrative resources they had, which they have been doing now extremely cautiously.

[…] the modern occidental political technologies applied by the party have been gradually releasing ARFP from the conservative/nationalist image, conveying an image of a modern social/democrat force instead.

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

Ijevan, Tavoush Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008

With a 7.45am start and the temperature well below zero, actually -7 to be precise, it was hardly the nicest of times to accompany other journalists on their way to cover the pre-election campaign of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation — Dashnaktsutyun’s Vahan Hovannisyan in the northeastern Tavoush region of Armenia.

True, more snow had fallen in the night and Yerevan looked magnificent illuminated only by street lights in a city center devoid of traffic and pedestrians, but it would have been nicer to depart a little later. As it happened, the two vans taking film crews left the ARF-D’s central headquarters an hour later than scheduled because timekeeping is unfortunately rarely observed here.

The early start was conditioned by the need to transport Hovannisian’s pre-election campaign materials as well as the billboards necessary for the event in the same vans. Still, it gave me time to grab a bite to eat at a local cafe and walk around a little.

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

Serge Sargsyan Pre-Election Campaign Rally, Massiv, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008

Today marked a welcome change — a morning call from E-Channel’s Gegham Vardanian alerting me to a pre-election campaign rally by the prime minister and presidential favorite, Serge Sargsyan, in the Massiv district of Yerevan. As this blog has almost entirely focused on the campaign by the former president, Levon Ter-Petrossian, the opportunity to photograph and observe some of the other candidates in action was very much welcomed despite the weather.

It should also be pointed out that this blog and E-Channel have agreed to voluntarily cooperate with the sharing of information and materials for the 19 February presidential election in Armenia. With the media becoming more politicized than it’s ever been in Armenia, finding more neutral sources of news and triangulating it with eye witness accounts as well as other reports from a variety of sources has become the only way to get a clear picture of the situation these days.

Other media outlets were also in attendance. In amongst the dozen TV cameras and other journalists covering the event, RFE/RL was one of them although it’s worth pointing out that A1 Plus put the number of those in attendance at “Over a thousand” while E-Channel put it at “1,000.”

Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian pledged to turn Armenia into a “brilliant country” and responded to intensifying verbal attacks from former President Levon Ter-Petrosian as he took his election campaign to Yerevan on Friday.

Sarkisian spent a large part of his speech at a campaign rally in the city’s northern Nor Nork suburb condemning the “malicious” discourse of his most bitter opposition challenger.

“But I am asking you not to succumb to provocations, not to respond to malice with malice because our aim is not just to garner many votes,” he told several hundred people who gathered in front of a local church. “Our aim is to move Armenia forward after the elections … It is never possible to do good things with malice.”

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

Levon Ter Petrosian Pre-Election Campaign Rally, Liberty Square, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008

It has to be said that since photographing the campaign of Levon Ter-Petrossian for next month’s 19 February presidential election since 21 September last year — long before the official campaign period actually started at the beginning of this week — I’ve been meaning to concentrate on other candidates, and not least because without doing so this election can’t really be considered free or fair.

Opinion polls and conversations with people on the streets do not create the impression of Ter-Petrossian occupying the position as the main challenger to the prime minister, Serge Sargsyan — for now at least. Instead, for some reason, both the government and opposition media appear to want to create that role for him. Some believe, for example, that Sargsyan stands more of a chance of winning a relatively clean vote (for Armenia) against the former president whose name is synonymous with the corruption, criminality and cronyism of the 1990s.

At any rate, until I find out the details of the other campaigns, especially that of the prime minister and the ARF-D’s Vahan Hovannisyan, I suppose I couldn’t miss it, and especially to compare the number of those in attendance with the number who showed up at Ter-Petrossian’s three Liberty Square rallies held from October-December last year. Then, while the radical opposition and its supporters in the local media claimed anywhere between 20-70,000 were in attendance, independent observers put the number at 12-15,000.

The question was, how many could Ter-Petrosian attract during the actual official pre-election campaign period?

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

Photojournalism will form an important component of the Armenia Election Monitor 2008, and while the pre-election campaign will not officially start until tomorrow, some candidates have already been campaigning for several months. Perhaps the most prominent of those is former president, Levon Ter-Petrossian, who effectively started his pre-election campaign on 21 September last year.

Anyway, albeit as a first rough test, some images from the rallies which followed are now available as an audio slideshow. The sound quality leaves a little to be desired, but it is anticipated that the rough edges will be smoother for later photo presentations. Later presentations will also include ambient sound and a more polished script. For now, though, the first test presentation starts as follows and may be viewed by clicking the link below.

Although the pre-election campaign period doesn’t officially start until Monday 21st January, unofficially it started months ago in September with the return of Armenia’s first and former president, Levon Ter-Petrossian, to active politics. Starting from October, Ter-Petrossian and his supporters held political rallies once a month. Sympathetic journalists and his supporters in civil society put the number of those attending each meeting at anywhere between 20-100,000 people. Independent observers put it more like 12-15,000.

Whatever the number, one thing was certain. Ter-Petrossian’s return introduced an element of uncertainty and unpredictability into the race to succeed the incumbent president in the election to be held next month. Considered more like a King to his supporters, government and opposition supporters started to describe the 19 February 2008 vote as shaping up to be a two horse race between Ter Petrossian and the prime minister, Serge Sargsyan.

Others such as veteran opposition politician Vazgen Manukian instead warned that while many Armenians despise the current authorities, many more dislike Ter-Petrossian.

The audio-visual photo presentation is available on the Armenia Election Monitor 2008.