Mediamax, Armenia
March 14 2013
Opposition letter urges European party to review stance on Armenian election
Yerevan, 14 March: International secretary of the Heritage party
Stepan Safaryan sent a letter to President of the European People’s
Party (EPP) Wilfried Martens.
It should be noted that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan will take
part in the EPP Summit in Brussels today.
Stepan Safaryan’s letter reads this:
“Dear Sir:
“As you know, on 18 February a presidential election took place in
Armenia. It was contested primarily by the leaders of two parties –
the ruling Republican Party and the opposition Heritage Party – both
observer members of the EPP.
“Before the campaign you had conveyed your warm wishes to both
candidates, and expressed your hope for the conduct of a free, fair,
and democratic election. Despite the incumbent’s numerous promises,
the election was anything but free and fair. In fact its results were
systematically falsified, as the incumbent Republican candidate tried
to steal victory by a process of serial ballot-stuffing,
ballot-stealing, and multiple-voting. It remains something of a
miracle that, despite the incumbent’s vast abuse of state resources
throughout the campaign, [Heritage leader] Raffi Hovhannisyan earned
the majority of actual votes – not only in every major city, but also
in most areas throughout the republic.
“The attached file includes an analysis of the official election
results produced by the independent organization Policy Forum Armenia
(whose findings have been affirmed by several statisticians throughout
the world, including Frederik Sjoberg of Columbia University), the
Interim Report from ODIHR, and a testimonial letter from one of the
distinguished OSCE observers himself. These documents speak for
themselves and complement a vast body of evidence, both testimonial
and captured directly on video, of the fraud that took place on 18
February. This is proof not merely of incidental violations here and
there with no clear effect on the outcome, but rather of a deliberate,
professional disenfranchisement of the Armenian citizen’s democratic
will.
“In short: Raffi Hovhannisyan earned a vast majority of votes in
nearly every precinct where average voter turnout was registered,
while Serzh Sargsyan received nearly or more than 100 per cent of
actual votes everywhere with impossible voter turnouts of 80-99 per
cent
“As the de facto president Serzh Sargsyan travels to foreign countries
and receives congratulations on his false victory, Raffi Hovhannisyan
– the candidate overwhelmingly elected by the Armenian people – has
begun a hunger strike to demand recognition of the true election
results. He has also been open to the possibility of a second round
run-off.
“Mr Martens: Armenia has no future without democracy and free
elections, without a legitimate president, without compliance with
international standards and its own Constitution. The Armenian people
simply can no longer afford to live under a ruler they did not elect.
Their disenfranchisement has nearly robbed them of all faith in their
nationhood. We urge you to reconsider, in correspondence with the
EPP’s very own values and standards, your decision to congratulate the
incumbent.
“We hope that the EPP will recognize the legitimate vote of the
Armenian nation and will not contribute to the deepening of the
political crisis which has developed in Armenia. Rather, it must
become a true champion of democracy – not of this or that political
party, but of the Armenian people, who made their rightful decision
with definitive hope and courage on 18 February.
“If your presidential determination – which flies in the face of
European benchmarks of the rule of law, civil liberty, and democratic
justice – becomes the official institutional policy of the entire EPP
family, we shall be compelled to re-evaluate our membership in our
great organization that has, most regrettably, deviated from the
fundamental precepts, values, and commitments which we seemed to
share, and which were the foundations of our application.”