ARMENIAN OPPOSITION: TV CAMPAIGN AD PRICES A POLITICAL HANDICAP
Marianna Grigoryan
EurasiaNet, NY
Feb 14 2007
As Armenia’s parliamentary election campaign takes shape, opposition
parties are crying foul after public and private television
broadcasters set what leading government critics consider to be
exorbitantly high prices for campaign ads.
One minute of airtime will cost candidates and political parties about
$225 (80,000 drams) on public television and as much as approximately
$366 (130,000 drams) per minute on private television stations. The
parliamentary election will be held May 12. The prices are more than
double the approximate $120 per minute charged during Armenia’s 2003
parliamentary elections. [For background see the Eurasia Insight
archive].
Armenia’s election law grants political parties an hour of free
airtime on state television and two hours on state radio during the
campaign season. Parties must pay for any airtime over that limit. A
5-million-dram (roughly $14,000) limit set on each candidate’s
campaign spending could pose an additional obstacle for opposition
parties. Assuming no other campaign expenses, each candidate would
only have enough money to pay for about one hour of advertising during
the campaign, based on the current pricing structure.
Opposition politicians claim that the rates are designed to keep
their views off the air. "Such prices are the greatest disgrace,"
said Marsha Saroyan, representative of the parliamentary faction
for the National Democratic Bloc "It is done only to prevent the
opposition from being seen in the field. Pro-government politicians
always appear on television on this or that occasion, but opposition
members are rarely given that opportunity."
The opposition Ardarutyun (Justice) parliamentary faction secretary,
Grigor Harutyunian, seconds that position, arguing that pro-government
parties favor higher prices because they have greater means of
communicating their political messages to the people. "All financial
resources are in the hands of the authorities. The opposition has no
such possibilities," Harutyunian said.
According to Armenia’s Election Code, television companies were
to announce their prices for campaign ads by February 11. "We have
set the prices and we don’t think they are high for political ads,"
said Ruzanna Stepanyan, a spokesperson for ALM Holding, which runs
television stations throughout Armenia. "If some parties want to
boycott television, let them do it."
Public television management maintains that their prices are
competitive compared with other options, though television officials
provided no explanation as to how the prices were set. "I cannot
speak about the price-setting mechanisms, as it is a very complicated
issue," Public Television Deputy Executive Director Gnel Nalbandian
said at a February 13 roundtable in Yerevan on media coverage of the
elections. "But this price was decided, and it [public television’s
price] is 40-50 percent lower than the price of other TV companies."
One prominent opposition leader has said that his party will not
air ads on public television, saying that to do so would cost the
party voter sympathy. "We consider it immoral when 70 percent of
the population lives a half-starved life and you ignore them and pay
that sum for one minute of airtime to talk about their being hungry,"
Artashes Geghamian, leader of the National Unity Party, stated recently
in parliament. The opposition Hanrapetutyun (Republic) Party has also
called for a boycott of television advertising.
But Galust Sahakyan, head of the parliamentary faction of the governing
Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), has dismissed the contention that
the prices are part of a campaign to weaken the opposition’s chances
at the polls.
"People think that they don’t need to have anything but their clever
thoughts and that they should come to power, but there is no such
thing," Sahakyan told legislators in response. "If you don’t have
either political or financial capital, but have good thoughts, you
can write books. Or, if you have no money, don’t use the airtime on
television, use your own feet, go to the villages, and communicate
with people directly."
Opposition members say that they are ready to campaign in villages,
but that an "unfavorable" situation awaits them there as well. To
date, only 11 out of 29 regional television companies have posted
prices for campaign ads. Some have said they have no plans to allocate
airtime for campaign ads, while others have not given a reason for
not posting prices.
"I don’t provide airtime for political ads. It was my decision and
there was no pressure," said Margarita Minasian, chairperson of the
Tsayg television company, based in Armenia’s northern Shirak region.
"Not providing airtime for political ads does not mean that there
will be nothing about politics on our air. We have … programs during
which we will invite politicians and there will be discussions."
Some pro-opposition analysts argue that providing no airtime for ads
already implies that there will be shadow advertisement and that TV
companies will carry out a pre-determined policy. According to them,
such a decision comes from pressure from "above."
"These are mechanisms the government uses to present their favorite
candidates to the audience," said Suren Surenyants, a political
analyst from the opposition Hanrapetutyun Party.
Meanwhile, international watchdogs are taking note of developments.
Commenting on the high prices for political ads at a February 13
press conference in Yerevan, Bojana Urumova, special representative in
Armenia for the Council of Europe’s Secretary General, told reporters
that "[i]t is a circumstance for observers to take into account."
Editor’s Note: Marianna Grigoryan is a reporter for the Armenianow.com
weekly in Yerevan.