ARMENIAN PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESMAN SAYS OPPOSITION USED AIRTIME FOR POLL CAMPAIGN
Hayots Ashkharh, Yerevan
10 Mar 07, p3
Armenian presidential spokesman Viktor Sogomonyan has said that there
are not serious problems with freedom of speech in the country. In
an interview with the Armenian newspaper Hayots Ashkharh Sogomonyan
denied media reports which allege that opposition was not given airtime
ahead of the parliamentary election. He said that monitoring funded
by the Council of Europe showed that opposition members were given
airtime, and if need be they could provide recording of those TV
programmes as a proof. The presidential spokesman also said that the
authorities were not to blame for internal disagreements within the
opposition. The following is an excerpt from Sogomonyan’s interview
with the newspaper on 10 March; subheadings inserted editorially:
Various politicians and certain international organizations
occasionally say that in Armenia the opposition is deprived of an
opportunity to express its views from television and radical leaders
are not given airtime on private TV companies.
The office of the presidential spokesperson has been monitoring this
sphere since 1 April 2006. The results of the monitoring were posted
at the website of the Foreign Ministry.
[Viktor Sogomonyan] We watched private TV broadcasts to keep a
record of which politicians appeared on TV and how many times they
participated in this or that political broadcast. We then asked these
companies to give us video of the mentioned broadcasts and compared it
with our data. We mainly watched such TV companies as Kentron, Shant,
Yerkir Media, etc. that actively broadcast political programmes and
added other companies, which also occasionally broadcast political
programmes, to their list.
Those who speak about the suppression of freedom of speech in Armenia
can look at the results of the monitoring. We are ready to give them
video copies if they do not believe. Our monitoring mainly focused
on opposition leaders and opposition MPs.
Monitoring shows opposition given airtime
[Correspondent] Did representatives of the authorities or the
pro-government politicians use the private TV air more than others?
[Sogomonyan] To be honest, we did not count. The point is that the
results of the monitoring absolutely refute the "rumours" that the
opposition is denied airtime in the private TV companies since all
the TV channels are controlled by the presidential administration.
Incidentally, the Caucasus Mass Media Institute also held this kind of
monitoring using the grant from the Council of Europe and registered
almost the same results. That is to say, it saw that a fairly wide
spectrum of pluralism is provided in Armenia.
Let me note that we did not watch news bulletins which also regularly
covered various episodes of the activity of the opposition leaders
and political forces – news conferences, debates, round tables, etc.
In that case a "contradictory" question could arise: Have you seen
foreign private TV companies broadcast news conferences of all
opposition members? I watched TV programmes of various foreign
companies but did not see broadcasts of this kind.
Certainly, I do not pretend to say that our private TV companies
are freer than foreign TV companies are. It is clear that there are
standards here too and they are mainly connected with journalists’
professionalism. Anyway, it is obvious that there are not serious
problems connected with freedom of speech in Armenia. I should say
that we held this monitoring just to have a common view. And we
think that the results of the monitoring should be made public so
that people know the situation.
"Black PR" against authorities
[Correspondent] As I know, the results of the monitoring of Radio
Liberty’s broadcasts were also presented. Is the information balanced
in this case too?
[Sogomonyan] Yes, we monitored Radio Liberty too, and its top
leadership as well as the US Embassy are aware of the results. Here
the situation is absolutely different – the opposition emphasized
"privilege" in the news broadcasting of Radio Liberty. We also noticed
that there was an open black PR against the authorities and pro-power
parties here.
I should say that it is difficult to find any positive programme in
the Armenian service of Radio Liberty which tells about any positive
event taking place in Armenia. No comment.
[Correspondent] Your opponents say that there is freedom of speech in
Armenia but only within the "mentioned" limits and not for everybody.
[Sogomonyan] If this or that politician is not seen on TV, it is TV
companies not you or me who should be asked about why they do not
invite this politician but invite that one. I can only assume that
perhaps these people are of no interest to the public. We do not
assess or comment on this, we just recorded what happened.
Authorities not to blame for opposition’s internal problems
[Correspondent] The opposition leaders say that with your help the
presidential administration is negotiating with false oppositionists
and it played an active role in the fact the opposition failed to
unite. What can you say about this?
[Sogomonyan] I am afraid that in this case as well they are trying
to blame the authorities for problems and disagreements within the
opposition. I prefer not to comment on this. Let them settle their
relations.
It is not the first time that this accusation is voiced against the
authorities, and I do not think that it will be the last one. There
is the political development which the authorities treat very calmly.
As for the process of this development and its peculiarities,
it is society but not the authorities or the opposition who will
determine it.
[Passage omitted: the results of the monitoring are presented]