Author: Kanayan Tamar

PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN ARMENIA: FULFILLED EXPECTATIONS

Vestnik Kavkaza
May 7 2012
Russia

The elections to the National Assembly, the parliament of the country,
were held on May, 6 in Armenia. Arman Gevorgyan, Armenian political
scientist, commented the results of the elections for Vestnik Kavkaza.

In his view, the big surprise was that the “Rule of Law” party overcame
the 5 percent barrier and entered the National Assembly.

“Personally, I thought that it would not receive more than two percent
of the vote, given the steps made by the leader of the party after
the 2008 presidential election. He seemed to have completely lost his
electorate. Then in 2008 he won 16% of the vote. These parliamentary
elections demonstrated that there is still more than 5% of the voters
who trust Artur Baghdasaryan,” Arman Gevorgyan said.

The results of the other political forces came as no surprise. “The
ruling Republican Party of Armenia, which has the largest resources,
used it and took first place”.

At the same time, what causes frustration is the fact that the face
of this party is President Serzh Sargsyan. It turned out that all
the issues were represented by the president, suggesting that the
Republican Party has merely turned into a monopoly, into a presidential
party. The RPA now is different from the RPA of the 90’s, because it
is obvious that the Republican Party then was not a one-man party,”
the analyst says.

Arman Gevorkian mentioned another very important fact – the Republican
Party has managed to take 50% plus one mandate, which means that
the Republican Party has an opportunity to form a government without
looking to the other parties in the National Assembly.

According to the analyst, “Prosperous Armenia” showed “a strong
performance”, getting twice as many votes than in the previous
elections, although the party, “of course, hoped for better results.”

Arman Gevorgyan, however, said that it is difficult to predict whether
this party will agree to form a coalition with the Republican Party,
as it did in 2007. In his opinion, it first of all needs an invitation
from the Republican party to form such a coalition, which is still
questionable. “The RPA has a stable majority; moreover, it may form a
coalition together with more docile counterparts with much smaller
requirements. For example, we can talk about the “Rule of Law”
party or “Legacy”, which can simply add to Republican votes in the
parliament without putting forward any particular political claims,”
the Armenian political scientist said.

Talking about the results of a potential coalition to “Prosperous
Armenia”, Arman Gevorgyan said that it might put the party in
a difficult situation with its electorate: “If the PAP enters the
ruling coalition, it gets a problem with those who voted for the PAP
as an alternative, though not as the opposition, but as an alternative
to the authorities. Will the voters understand this? This is a very
serious problem.”

“It should be noted that the opposition may also be different, it
can be quite constructive, or very tough and radical. It is not clear
which choices will be made by the PAP.”

The prospects for the radical opposition, represented by the Armenian
National Congress, that has overcame the 7% barrier, is described
by Arman Gevorgyan as “not very successful”. “In order to continue
to retain its political potential, the ANC must decide questions of
financing. Their funding was insufficient. And this is a very important
question that probably should be addressed. I guess that the ANC
would be a real effective opposition to the ruling Republican Party.”

The expert believes that, after such a result in the parliamentary
elections, the leader of the ANC – former president Levon Ter-Petrosyan
– will be nominated for the presidential elections in 2013. According
to him, a decision on this issue will probably become known by the
end of the summer.

Another opposition party, ARF “Dashnaktsutiun”, in comparison with
2007 has lost more than half of its seats (it got 6 instead of 16).

“The ARF was able to withdraw from the ruling coalition, and it
took two years to regain the confidence of at least some of their
constituents. I’m guessing that the ARF will remain in opposition to
gain points for its political future,” the expert said.

Arman Gevorgyan added that the result of the parliamentary elections
show that president Serzh Sarkissian strengthened his position in the
political system of the country before the presidential election in
2013: “If no major force interferes, Serzh Sargsyan has a very good
chance of staying in office for a second term.”

Susanna Petrosian in Yerevan. Specially for Vestnik Kavkaza

MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE ARMENIA ABOLISHED

The Messenger
May 7 2012
Georgia

On May 3, the Armenian government made the decision to end Millennium
Challenge Armenia. The development project began in 2006 and was
nearly complete by 2011. According to initial plans, $235 million USD
was to be allotted to the agricultural sector, but only $177 million
was received. The money was used to rehabilitate irrigation systems,
pumping stations, and similar infrastructure.

ARMENIA PRESIDENT’S PARTY WINS ELECTION-EARLY RESULTS

Vestnik Kavkaza
May 7 2012
Russia

Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan’s Republican Party won a
parliamentary election, early results showed on Monday, in a poll
that was seen as a test of democracy in Russia’s main ally in the
South Caucasus region.

The Republican Party took 44 percent of votes in Sunday’s vote,
giving Sarksyan a platform to seek a second term as leader of the
former Soviet republic.

Voting ended without any of the violence that marred the 2008
presidential election – a fact that will come as a relief to Armenians
hoping for a period of stability to support the battered economy.

International monitors have a mixed assessment, praising Armenia for
conducting a peaceful vote but criticizing violations of campaign
law and interference by political parties.

Armenia sits in a region that is emerging as an important route for
oil and gas exports from the Caspian Sea to world markets, although
it has no pipelines of its own.

The Republican Party is likely to seek coalition partners, possibly
the Prosperous Armenia party – its main partner in the last government.

Prosperous Armenia, led by wealthy businessman Gagik Tsarukyan,
finished second with 30 percent of votes on Sunday, according to the
preliminary data.

“I don’t see any likelihood of mass demonstrations, although the
results were disappointing for many, including Prosperous Armenia,”
said Richard Giragosian, director of the Regional Studies Centre
in Yerevan.

“There are signs that Sarksyan will consolidate his hold on the
Republican Party in preparation for his presidential bid in 2013,”
Giragosian said.

The two leading parties put the economy and social problems at the
heart of their election campaigns.

But there were no major differences in their economic programs,
which called for more work to develop domestic industry and for the
continuation of cooperation with Russia and international financial
organizations.

Three other parties won the 5 percent of votes needed to enter
parliament and the opposition Armenian National Congress, led by
former President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, crossed the 7 percent threshold
for party blocs to take up seats.

HOPES OF STABILITY

Many voters had hoped the election would be a landmark for democracy
after the voting irregularities that marred the 2007 parliamentary
election and clashes killed 10 people after the presidential vote
in 2008.

“Armenia deserves recognition for its electoral reforms and its
open and peaceful campaign environment,” the international observers
from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe said in a statement.

But it added that several unnamed “stakeholders” had too often failed
to comply with the law, and the election commissions had “too often
failed to enforce it”.

Police received 129 complaints of ballot stuffing, attempts to bribe
voters and other irregularities although the force said some proved
to be false.

Armenia’s economy was devastated by a war with neighboring Azerbaijan
in the 1990s and then again by the 2008-2009 global financial crisis.

Although a ceasefire was reached in 1994, the conflict with Azerbaijan
over the tiny Nagorno-Karabakh region remains unresolved and a threat
to stability.

Relations with another neighbor, Turkey, are also fraught because
Ankara does not recognize as genocide the killing of Armenians in
Ottoman Turkey during World War One, Reuters reports.

ARMENIA RULING PARTY WINS ELECTION: PARTIAL RESULTS

Business Recorder

May 7 2012

YEREVAN: Armenia’s governing party on Monday was set to win
parliamentary elections that were the biggest test of the country’s
fragile democracy since 2008 polls ended in fatal clashes, partial
results showed.

President Serzh Sarkisian’s governing Republican party led with
44.69 percent of the vote after three-quarters of the 1,982 polling
stations had counted ballots from Sunday’s contest, the Central
Election Commission said.

Its outgoing coalition partner turned poll rival, the Prosperous
Armenia party, was running second on 30.61 per cent.

Trailing far behind, the opposition Armenian National Congress bloc
was third on 6.72 percent, according to the commission results,
posted on its website.

OFFICIAL VOTE TALLY: PRESIDENTIAL PARTY TOPS ARMENIA PARLIAMENT

Europe Online Magazine

May 7 2012

By our dpa-correspondent and Europe Online

Moscow (dpa) – Parliamentary elections in Armenia have strengthened
the role of President Serzh Sargsyan’s pro-Russian Republic Party as
the country’s dominant force, official ballot counts showed Monday.

The Republic Party obtained 44 per cent of support in Sunday’s vote,
according to preliminary counts of ballots from 1,963 of the country’s
1,982 voting districts, data published by Armenia’s Central Election
Committee (CEC) said.

If confirmed, it would mark a 10-per-cent gain for the party since
Armenia’s last parliamentary elections in 2007.

However, the most significant gains were scored by the Prosperous
Armenia party of businessman Gagik Tsarukyan, which is set to become
the country’s second-largest party after doubling its support to 30
per cent.

The two parties have often acted as partners, with Tsarukyan,
reportedly one of Armenia’s wealthiest businessmen, generally backing
Sargsyan’s rule.

The Republican Party will now attempt to form a new government.

Three smaller parties and a single opposition block also received
between 5 and 7 per cent, allowing them to place representatives in
the 131-seat parliament, CEC data showed.

At 62 per cent, turnout was relatively strong.

The composition of Armenia’s legislature is mixed, with 90 seats
allocated according to results of a national vote on party lists,
and 41 seats going to the winners of contests in individual election
districts.

The election went smoothly and no major violations of election law
were reported.

A presidential election in March 2008 triggered deadly riots after
Sargsyan defeated Levon Ter-Petrosian, the country’s first president.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT’S PARTY ‘TO KEEP POWER’

MWC News

May 6 2012
Media with Conscience

Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan’s Republican Party is on course to
win Sunday’s parliamentary election, an exit poll showed after voting
ended in the South Caucasus country.

The exit poll by the Gallup International Association showed Prosperous
Armenia, the Republican Party’s partner in the previous coalition
government, was set to finish second.

It put the Republican Party on 44.44 per cent, and Prosperous Armenia
on 28.81 per cent.

Opinion polls had suggested that the Republican party was ahead of
the Prosperous Armenia party, led by Gagik Tsarukian, a super-rich
former arm wrestling champion.

“I want everything to be calm, peaceful and in accordance with our
laws today, tomorrow and the day afterwards. This is a guarantee of
progress,” Sarkisian told journalists after casting his ballot in
Yerevan, the capital.

Vote conduct scrutinised

Around 2.5 million people, out of a population of 3.3 million people,
were eligible to vote in the elections, which was contested by eight
parties and one bloc.

Some 350 European observers and 31,000 local monitors are scrutinising
the conduct of the polls.

“I am for change but without drastic upheavals. We need stability,”
one voter at a polling station in the capital, electrician Garnik
Khacheian, told the AFP news agency.

“I voted for fairness. It’s impossible to live in a country where
human rights are not observed, where there is no work and there are the
very rich and those who have nothing,” said unemployed voter Alvard,
who declined to give her surname.

Sarkisian had been criticised for continuing Friday’s campaign event
after the incident which saw scores of promotional balloons burst
into flames as people screamed in panic.

The elections are the biggest test of the ex-Soviet state’s fragile
democratic credentials since a disputed presidential vote in 2008
which ended in fatal clashes.

The Armenian National Congress opposition bloc led by Levon
Ter-Petrosian, a former president, has alleged that the governing party
was planning to rig the vote to keep power and has threatened protests.

“If the elections are normal, we will agree with any result,”
Ter-Petrosian said after voting.

Demonstrations have also not been ruled out by Prosperous Armenia,
whose leader Tsarukian is seen by supporters as a benevolent hero
for his donations to the poor.

Campaigning ended in chaos on Friday when scores of gas-filled balloons
exploded at a Republican party rally in Yerevan led by Sarkisian,
unleashing a fireball into the air and injuring almost 150 people.

The authorities promised an unprecedentedly clean contest for the
131-seat National Assembly in the hope of avoiding any turmoil after
battles between riot police and opposition supporters four years ago
left 10 people dead.

A pre-poll report by observers from the Organisation for Security and
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) did not register systematic violations,
although media reports alleged that some parties have been bribing
potential voters.

Campaigning in the Caucasus state of 3.3 million people mainly focused
on issues of unemployment, poverty and emigration rather than Armenia’s
long-running political disputes with neighbours Turkey and Azerbaijan.

TEHRAN-YEREVAN TIES FAST DEVELOPING: ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER

Mehr News Agency (MNA)
May 6, 2012 Sunday
Iran

TEHRAN, May 6 (MNA) – Armenian National Assembly Speaker Samvel
Nikoyan has said that relations between the Islamic Republic and
Armenia are quickly developing in all spheres. Nikoyan made the remarks
during a meeting with the outgoing Iranian Ambassador to Yerevan Ali
Saqqaean in Yerevan on Sunday. Commenting on the affinities between
the two countries, Nikoyan said that given the great potential,
mutual cooperation should be promoted more than before. MJH/PA END MNA

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT ESCAPES DEFEAT, PARTY AHEAD IN ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS

Financial Mirror
May 6, 2012 Sunday

President Serzh Sarksyan’s Republican Party will keep its grip on power
after a parliamentary election in Armenia on Sunday, final results of
an exit poll showed after voting ended in the South Caucasus country.

The exit poll released by Gallup International Association put the
party on course to win more than 43% of the votes in an election that
passed off without any of the violence that marred the last national
poll in 2008.

Its main partner in the previous coalition, the Prosperous Armenia
party led by businessman Gagik Tsarukyan, was in second place on more
than 29% of the votes, it showed.

The Central Election Commission was expected to start receiving initial
results from polling stations across the country of 3.3 million by
midnight. Turnout exceeded 62% of eligible voters, it said.

Many voters and Armenian leaders had hoped the election would be a
landmark for democracy after voting irregularities marred the last
parliamentary election in 2007 and clashes killed 10 people after
the presidential vote in 2008.

More than 300 international observers from the Organisation for
Security and Cooperation in Europe monitored voting and will give
their initial verdict on Monday.

One observer said privately there had been some violations, but it
was not clear how widespread or serious they were.

Ink stamps on the passports of people who had already voted had
disappeared within 15 minutes, giving them the chance to vote again,
the observer, who did not want to be named, said, citing several
such reports.

The exit poll suggested three parties apart from the big two, were
likely to win the 5% of votes needed to enter parliament in the former
Soviet republic.

The Armenian National Congress, an opposition coalition led by former
President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, might also cross the 7% threshold set
for blocs of parties to win seats, it showed.

There were no reports of violence, an encouraging sign for a country
that wants stability to boost the economy, devastated by a war with
neighbouring Azerbaijan in the 1990s and then the 2008-2009 global
financial crisis.

Voters trickling to the polls in bright sunshine hoped the election
would be a landmark for democracy after criticism by international
observers over Armenia’s elections since the end of communist rule.

The parties made social problems and economic issues the main issues of
an election campaign that was unusually active for Armenia, Russia’s
main ally in the South Caucasus.

There were no major differences in their economic programmes,
which call for more active development of domestic industry and
continuation of cooperation with Russia as well as international
financial organisations.

A blast at a campaign rally injured about 150 people on Friday,
briefly raising fears of violence, but emergency officials said it
was caused by gas-filled balloons exploding.

Although a ceasefire was reached in 1994, its conflict with Azerbaijan
over the tiny Nagorno-Karabakh region remains unresolved and a threat
to stability.

Relations with neighbour, Turkey, are also fraught because Ankara
does not recognise the killing of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey during
World War One as genocide.

WESTERN OBSERVERS GIVE MIXED ASSESSMENT OF ARMENIAN POLL CONDUCT
Emil Danielyan

07.05.2012

Armenia – Senior European election observers start a joint news
conference in Yerevan, 7 May 2012.

International observers gave a mixed assessment of Armenia’s
parliamentary elections on Monday, praising the pre-election
environment in the country but reporting irregularities in a
“significant number” of polling stations on voting day.

In their preliminary findings that clearly fell short of the Armenian
government’s expectations, the nearly 300 observers mostly deployed by
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) avoided
stating whether the vote was democratic.

“Armenia deserves recognition for its electoral reforms and its open
and peaceful campaign environment but in this race several
stakeholders too often failed to comply with the law and election
commissions too often failed to enforce it,” said Francois-Xavier de
Donnea, a Belgian parliamentarian who led head short-term OSCE
monitors. “As a result, the international commitments to which Armenia
has freely subscribed were not always respected.”

“The election campaign was open and respected fundamental freedoms,
and the media offered broad and balanced coverage during the official
campaign period,” said Radmila Sekerinska, an observer mission leader
representing the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human
Rights (ODIHR).

Representatives of smaller monitoring teams deployed by the European
Parliament and the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE)
agreed with this conclusion. Emma Nicholson, who led the 27-strong
PACE team, expressed concern over “reports of widespread interference
with the running of polling stations, voters’ movement and casting of
votes throughout the day by certain political parties.”

Armenia Francois-Xavier de Donnea, head of a short-term election
monitoring mission deployed by the OSCE, at a news conference in
Yerevan, 7May2012.xArmenia Francois-Xavier de Donnea, head of a
short-term election monitoring mission deployed by the OSCE, at a news
conference in Yerevan, 7May2012.

â~@~Kâ~@~K”The authorities must address this unacceptable behavior before the
presidential election next year,” Nicholson told a joint news
conference with de Donnea and Sekerinska.

The observers’ joint preliminary report on Sunday’s election similarly
refers to “undue interference” in the voting process, presumably by
activists of pro-government parties, among various violations. “While
opening procedures were assessed positively in almost all polling
stations observed, voting was assessed negatively in 10 per cent,
which is considerable,” says the report. “Unauthorized people, mostly
proxies, interfered in or directed the work of 12 per cent of the
[precinct election commissions] observed,” it adds.

The observers assessed “negatively” ballot counting in almost
one-fifth of the observed polling stations. “Unauthorized people
participated in one in four counts observed,” they said.

“International observers reported isolated cases of serious
violations, such as falsification of results or protocols (four cases)
or indications that ballot box stuffing had occurred earlier (five
cases).”

The observer did not to clarify whether it thinks these and other
reported violations influenced official vote results that gave a
landslide victory to President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party of
Armenia (HHK).

“It is not only outside of our mandate to comment on this, but it’s
really technically difficult to assess whether these kinds of
deficiencies or irregularities have changed the opinion of the
voters,” said Sekerinska.

Vote buying was the principal fraud allegation voiced by the Armenian
opposition even before the closure of the polls on Sunday evening.

In Sekerinska’s words, it was “very difficult” for the mainly Western
observers to verify the vote buying claims. “Even people who have
claimed that they were part of a vote buying scheme decided not to
come forward with information and personal declarations,” she
explained.

Opposition leaders also cried foul after it emerged on Sunday morning
that ink stamps meant to guard against multiple voting routinely
disappeared after being put on voters’ passports. The observer’s
report notes in this regard that the special ink used for the
procedure “should have remained visible for 12 hours but faded much
faster.”

Armenia’s previous legislative polls held in May 2007 were judged by a
similar OSCE-led mission to have been held “largely in accordance with
international standards for democratic elections.” Western monitors
gave a similar assessment of the Armenian presidential election of
February 2008, which was marred by fraud allegations and a deadly
government crackdown on the opposition.

The Armenian authorities have made no secret of their hopes to secure
an even more positive international verdict on the latest vote.

President Sarkisian and other top officials have repeatedly pledged to
do their best to hold the most democratic election in the country’s
history.

The observers were clearly more critical of the authorities’ election
conduct this time around, however. When asked to sum up their
findings, de Donnea said, “In some areas, these elections are better
than the previous ones. In other areas, there is status quo and a
potential for improvement. In other areas, there might be a setback
and also a greater potential for improvement.”

VLADIMIR PUTIN, TIGRAN SARGSYAN EXCHANGE CONGRATULATIONS

armradio.am
07.05.2012 18:20

President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin issued a
congratulatory address to Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan
on the occasion of the 67th anniversary of the Victory in the Great
Patriotic War.

“On this special day for Russia and Armenia, as well as all member
states of the Commonwealth of Independent States, we remember with deep
gratitude and respect the courage of the participants of war,” Tigran
Sargsyan said, expressing confidence that the strategic partnership
between Armenia and Russia would further strengthen for the benefit
of the two peoples and for the sake of stability and security in the
South Caucasus.

Tigran Sargsyan, in turn, congratulated Vladimir Putin on assuming
the office of the President of the Russian Federation. The Armenian
prime minister expressed confidence that Vladimir Putin’s election as
the President of Russia would ensure the continuity of the political
line and the steady development of Russian society.

The Prime Minister noted that the allied relations between Armenia
and Russia fully corresponds to the interests of the two peoples and
help maintain security and stability in the region.