PFA Special Report: Armenia’s 2012 Parliamentary Election
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ARMENIA PUTS A NEW FACE ON ELECTION FRAUD
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PRESS RELEASE
December 12, 2012
Contact: [email protected]
Washington/Los Angeles/Yerevan-Earlier this year, under mounting
pressure by the international community and civil society, the
government of the Republic of Armenia took measures to reduce fraud
and manipulation going into the 2012 parliamentary election. Yet,
according to a special report released today by Policy Forum Armenia
(PFA)-a U.S.-based international think tank and advocacy
organization-true election reform in Armenia has, once again, been
hijacked, only this time by even more inventive and well-concealed
methods of falsification.
The report, `The Armenian Parliamentary Election of 2012,’ provides an
in-depth analysis of the political-economic and legislative
developments leading up to the 2012 election. It also summarizes the
reactions of key stakeholders-the opposition parties, foreign
observers, and local civil society groups-to the election outcome.
What particularly sets the report apart from other analyses, however,
is the range of statistical tests, conducted by professional analysts,
which support stakeholder reactions. These tests not only yielded
ample evidence of persistent and strategic election fraud but also
pinpointed the beneficiary of such corrupt practices, namely the
ruling party.
In reviewing the findings, Adam Hug, the Policy Director at
London-based Foreign Policy Centre, called the report a `revelation as
to how the election authorities successfully managed to adapt to the
changes in laws of their own making as well as outside
pressures. These new forms of falsification-most notably multiple
voting, among them-compensate for the blatant practices abandoned for
appearance sake. It’s a growing phenomenon in the region as well as in
other struggling democracies compromised by authoritarian-prone
leaders.’
PFA Senior Fellow, Armine Ishkanian of the London School of Economics,
went on to say that `The growing sophistication of fraud techniques
and mechanisms, which are artfully concealed, make it difficult for
outside observers to cite and document specific instances. It is
electoral fraud 2.0. The authors of this report have had to bring to
bear all the tools of research and analysis available to shed light on
these techniques and provide stakeholders with statistical back-up
that election fraud is alive and well in Armenia. The question is,
what are the prospects for the forthcoming presidential elections
early next year?`
PFA Executive Board member and a Los Angeles-based attorney, Edgar
Martirosyan, pointed out that achieving free and fair elections is not
an end in itself. `Better elections are likely to result in better
governance and stronger social cohesion,` he asserted. `And it is an
internationally-accepted conclusion that good governance is the
primary driver of economic development and progress in developing
countries like Armenia.’
Policy Forum Armenia is an independent professional non-profit
association aimed at strengthening discourse on Armenia’s economic
development and national security and, through that, helping to shape
public policy in Armenia. This special Election Report and other PFA
reports, which provide assessments of critical developments taking
place in Armenia and the Diaspora, are available at
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See the Report in Armenian
See the Report in English
From: Baghdasarian