Elections in Armenia

[gegev]

Re: Elections in Armenia

Քուչի տղեքի բաց դիմումը Ազգային Ժողովին՝

Էս ինչ օրենք ա որ մեր նման հարգված «քաղքի» տղեքին
ընտրությունների ժամանակ ՀՀԿ-ին պաշտպանելու համար
«խուժան» կամ «քուչի» են անվանում:

Առաջարկում ենք օրենքով պարտադրեք որ մեր մասին խոսելիս՝
ընտրակաշառք բաժանելու կամ լցոնումներ անելու մասին հոդվածներում «քաղքի» տղա գրեն:

Ազգային Ժողովի պատասխանը՝

Աչքիս վըրա, քեռի Քուչի,
Մի «քաղաք» ա, հո մեծ բան չի
Քո թանկագին խաթեր համար
«Քաղքի» գրեմ արի' առ' տար':

[Hakob]

Re: Elections in Armenia

I am afraid we are so used to it now that it does not cause us shame any more ... only pain ... and .... we ask .... why us .....

On the other hand some people even confuse supporting a corrupt official ( President/Mayor ) with patriotism.


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Still waiting for any undisputable evidence of vote bying or other illegal acts commited in presidential as well as mayorial elections that is presented by opposition to public as well as in courts(In Armenia or abroad). Instead of screaming heart wrenching stuff and all the "shame. pain" or stop supporting this or that cadidate".

For people one undisputable fact has been evident. Opposition is as much or even more corrupt than current government.
Nobody is confusing patriotism with support of anybody or any other issue. But The last elections clearly showed that people preferred economical corruption over ideological one. In other words, before any declaration, opposition should ask themselfs why people do not trust them?
Why is it that LTP, Dashnaks, BHK, Heritage or others are more scary than Serj?. I cannot put in other words. It is just amazing how opposition fails to contribute and help this people who suffered under current rulers fo so long into changing it.
Nobody can say that people are not smart politically. 1988 proves the power and fearlesness of Armenians in going against USSR and shaking it to ground.
HHK is not USSR.
Real shame or pain is the fact that Armenians have to clinch their fists, bite their lips and re-elect a corrupt government because opposition is so full of it and makes people fear of loosing what little homeland or stability, dignity or humanity is left there.
Otherwise current rullers would be gone like 1-2-3.

[Hakob]

Re: Elections in Armenia

http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/101313

[bell-the-cat]

Re: Elections in Armenia

http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/101313

"Dear political tourists, we have had enough of your efforts to legitimize the fraudulent elections" - Lena Nazaryan.

[bell-the-cat]

Re: Elections in Armenia

Re: Lena Nazaryan, not sure if thesewere posted earlier, but here they are for the record.

Citizen Activist to OSCE Observers: "Stop Legitimizing Fraudulent Elections in Armenia"
http://hetq.am/eng/news/23565/citize...n-armenia.html

What follows is the statement read today by political activist Lena Nazaryan at the press conference held by OSCE PA election observers.

The OSCE observers walked out of the hall when Nazaryan took the podium to read the statement on behalf of the citizens of Armenia.

Dear political tourists, we have had enough of your efforts to legitimize the fraudulent elections.

The recent presidential election in Armenia, when compared to previous presidential elections, has registered one step forward and three steps backwards, two steps to the right and a half step to the left. In a word, they haven’t corresponded to the RA Constitution, to the demands of the Election Code as well as international standards.

The elections have proceeded against the backdrop of proposed reforms to the Election Code by the parliamentary opposition that were rejected by the ruling majority. Even though international and domestic observers, rights defenders and the opposition raised concerns, especially regarding glaring inaccuracies in the voter rolls, after the parliamentary election, nevertheless, the ruling authorities did nothing to fix the problem before this recent presidential election.

In essence, last year’s parliamentary election and yesterday;’ presidential election took place on the same legal-normative basis.

Of note is the fact that in the February 18 presidential election none of Armenia’s primary political opposition forces either nominated their own candidate or supported any of the nominated candidates. I refer to the Armenian National Congress, Prosperous Armenia, the AR and the Free Democrats. This is ample proof that the election was not truly competitive.

The fact that none of the primary opposition groups refused to nominate their own candidate or support any other candidate running, points to the deep level of mistrust of citizens and political forces regarding the electoral process.

Thus, the opposition forces in the parliament, from the outset, have labelled the presidential election as a farce and a show, since as previously noted, the ruling majority squashed the passage of election reforms proposed by the opposition prior to the election period.

Even though on the surface there was the appearance that important democratic freedoms were being safeguarded during the campaign, including the right to run a free campaign, in reality, the campaign was noteworthy by its competitive inequality in favour of the candidate of the regime. In particular, administrative resources and powers were put into the service of the latter. This was accomplished via pressure brought to bear on state and public employees to attend campaign events of Serzh Sargsyan and to vote in his favour.

The election campaign did not proceed peacefully. Violence was inflicted on candidate Paryur Hayrikian. The man was shot. Another candidate, Andreas Ghoukasyan, staged a hunger strike to protest the electoral process which he labelled a mere show. The press covered cases of violence even on Election Day.

The campaign also stood out by its lack of political and individual professionalism. Candidates employed the crudest of language and public relation stunts. For example, the various incidents that took place during the campaign conducted by the regime’s candidate were widely mocked by large segments of society. As a consequence, citizens tended not to take the election process seriously.

On Election Day, polling precincts were transformed into theatrical stages where citizens showed their attitude to the process. The press and social internet sites were full of ballots invalidated by voters who drew caricatures on them. They drew images of figures from the plant and animal world, images lifted from fairy tales and television cartoon characters. In one precinct, a voter literally ate his ballot as a sign of protest. It significant to note that according to official statistics, the number of invalidated ballots came in third place.

Reports of duplicate voting, ballot stuffing, bribes, and substitute voting and other scams were raised throughout the election itself.

Thus, yesterday’s presidential election in Armenia can be described as yet another normal appalling election.

Dear political tourists, we’ve had enough of you legitimizing the fraudulent election. You are xxxxxling those democratic values that you yourselves have broken.


Lena Nazaryan: "What I did wasn't heroic. Next time someone else will do the same."

http://hetq.am/eng/news/23679/lena-nazaryan-what-i-did-wasnt-heroic-next-time-someone-else-will-do-the-same.html

Lena Nazaryan, the young woman who read a statement during a press conference of the OSCE observers a day after the February 18 presidential election challenging their evaluation, said she did nothing heroic.

“If other international organizations again attempt to give a similar evaluation, then somebody else will get up and take them to task,” Nazaryan said today at a Media Center discussion regarding the election and post-election developments.

Nazaryan said the act was to show that domestic observers had the right to present their evaluation as well.

Arpineh Galfayan, one of the panellists comprised of representatives of local civic groups, said too much emphasis was placed on elections every five years and that the struggle for change was a daily battle.

Marineh Manoucharyan argued that Nazaryan’s action was needed to show that the evaluation of local observers was equally, if not more important, than those given by international observers.

Manoucharyan saiud that local observers not only understand the language but that they follow the entire electoral process and remain at their posts all day monitoring the situation.

Artour Avtandilyan said bribe giving is the hardest of the election violations to prove and that it is ultimately up to the government to stamp it out.

“Given that bribe giving remains a fact of life in Armenia, it means that the government is not interested in eradicating it,” the activist said.

Arpineh Galfayan said that that the majority of people in Armenia are still searching for a saviour, an idol, to follow. This often leads to repeating cycles of despair.

Nevertheless, she believes that society has the potential for self-organization.

Tzovinar Nazaryan confessed that the official election results were unexpected and optimistic in the sense that despite the violations the people went out and voted the conscience.

“Shame on us”, Nazaryan said, “We expected less from our society.”

[Vahram]

Re: Elections in Armenia

The Republicans won over the elections in Armenia at all the levels: on 6 May 2012 they took majority in the parliament, on 18 February they gained the victory at
the presidential election and on 5 May - at the Yerevan Council of Elders election. So the RPA has set absolute hegemony in the political field of Armenia, director of the Caucasus Institute, Aleksandr Iskandaryan, told journalists today.

"There were numerous pre-conditions for the victory of the RPA. First of all, 49% of votes gathered by the RPA candidate, Serzh Sargsyan, at the presidential election on 18 February. It would be simply naive to expect that after that RPA would gain less votes at the Yerevan Council of Elders election. So, nothing extraordinary happened on 5 May. Such distribution of forces was predictable especially after the PAP leader Gagik Tsarukyan's refusal to run for president", - Iskandaryan said

http://www.arminfo.am/index.cfm?obje...45F6327207157C


.

[Hakob]

Re: Elections in Armenia

"Dear political tourists, we have had enough of your efforts to legitimize the fraudulent elections" - Lena Nazaryan.

Who's Lena Nazaryan?

[bell-the-cat]

Re: Elections in Armenia

30% assess presidential election in Armenia positively, 62% negatively

30% assess presidential election in Armenia positively, 62% negatively

http://www.aysor.am/en/news/2013/05/17/gallup/

Monday,May 20

A poll conducted by Gallup International Association showed that only 30%
of respondents assessed positively the February 18 presidential elections
in Armenia, Director of Gallup International Association Armenia Office
Aram Navasardian told reporters today.

"62% assessed the presidential elections negatively, and 7% of respondents
found it difficult to answer", Navasardian said.
The poll was conducted among 1,067 adults on April 12-20.

33.5% said they voted for the incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan in the
presidential elections, 23.8% said they voted for the leader of Heritage
Party Raffi Hovannisian. As for the post-election policy of Raffi
Hovannisian, 49% of respondents assessed it negatively, while 39% -
positively.

47% said the situation in Armenia will not change considerably after the
re-election of Serzh Sargsyan as president, 22% were optimistic, while
another 22% said they expect negative changes.

[londontsi]

Re: Elections in Armenia

http://www.armenialiberty.org/content/article/25006007.html

Governor Resigns ‘Temporarily’ Over Deadly Shooting

The notoriously violent governor of Armenia’s southeastern Syunik province said on Monday that he is “temporarily” stepping down in connection with a weekend shootout outside his villa that left one of his local rivals dead and two other men injured.

Suren Khachatrian announced his decision following the arrest of his son Tigran and one of his bodyguards on suspicion of involvement in the late-night incident in Goris, a provincial town that has long been his de facto fiefdom.

The authorities in Yerevan, meanwhile, were in no rush to sack or prosecute Khachatrian despite renewed allegations by opposition and civic activists about impunity enjoyed by powerful government loyalists in Armenia.

Law-enforcement authorities gave few details of the shooting, saying only that it followed a bitter dispute involving Avetik Budaghian, a 43-year-old local businessman and his brother Artak, who is the commander of an Armenian army unit stationed in the area. Avetik died on the spot, while Artak and another man, who is apparently linked to the governor, were hospitalized with serious gunshot wounds.

Police units sent from Yerevan reportedly searched the houses of Khachatrian and his relatives shortly after the incidents.

In a statement, Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor-General said investigators have confiscated “a large quantity of weapons” but did not elaborate. It also said that all individuals responsible for the deadly violence will be brought to justice “regardless of their positions.”

Khachatrian did not report for work and switched off his mobile on Monday. “I regret that I could not prevent the tragic incident that took place near my house,” he said in a statement posted on the website of Syunik’s provincial administration. “An objective inquiry should now answer all questions.”

“I have decided to give up my duties of governor until the end of the inquiry and have already received permission from my superior body,” he added.

The Armenian government’s press office insisted, however, that Khachatrian did not submit resignation letters to Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian or Local Government Minister Armen Gevorgian. Under Armenian law, the provincial governors are appointed and dismissed by the central government.

Some media reports claimed that Khachatrian sought a meeting with President Serzh Sarkisian but was snubbed by the latter. Sarkisian’s press secretary, Arman Saghatelian, did not confirm or refute those reports.

In Goris, meanwhile, relatives of the Budaghian brothers blamed Khachatrian for the shootings. “This was the result of lawlessness reigning in this town for more than 10 years,” one of them told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). “At the heart of that lawlessness is the current governor of Syunik. I am convinced that he had a hand in this.”

The brothers have reportedly had a tense rapport with Khachatrian and his extended family. Avetik Budaghian, the slain businessman, challenged Goris Mayor Nelson Voskanian, a Khachatrian protégé, in the last local election held in 2010. Budaghian cried foul during that mayoral race.

“Please do not politicize what happened, it was an accidental phenomenon,” Voskanian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). “I don’t know who is responsible for it. The guilty will be identified.”

The mayor also denied that Khachatrian’s practically unlimited influence on local affairs resulted in an atmosphere of fear. “The atmosphere in Goris is good,” he claimed.

Local residents approached by an RFE/RL correspondent were clearly too scared to comment on the shock killing, however. “People are not just scared, they shudder [with fear,]” said one middle-aged man. “Switch off your camera,” he said when asked to elaborate.

“Please don’t ask me questions,” said another, female resident of the picturesque town.

Khachatrian, who is better known in Armenia with his “Liska” nickname, has held sway in Goris and nearby villages ever since the early 1990s. Independent media outlets have long implicated him and his relatives in violent attacks on local business rivals as well as government critics, including a Syunik newspaper editor whose car was set on fire in 2005.

The controversial governor has always denied involvement in such incidents and denounced opposition politicians and pro-opposition media for branding him a crime figure.

Khachatrian, who is a senior member of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), risked dismissal in 2008 as he faced an embarrassing government inquiry into a newspaper report that accused him of beating up a teenage boy. He was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing.

Khachatrian, who was appointed as Syunik governor in 2004 by then President Robert Kocharian, managed to retain his position even after assaulting in a Yerevan hotel lobby in late 2011 a businesswoman who accused him of fraud. Although the incident was captured by a surveillance camera, law-enforcement bodies refused to bring criminal charges against him on the grounds that the woman did not suffer serious physical injuries.

Official results of Armenian elections held over the past decade have shown President Sarkisian and his HHK winning more votes in Syunik than in any other part of the country. Critics say this is the reason why the ruling party has never censured the governor until now.

Neither the HHK nor the presidential administration reacted to Khachatrian’s threats to “smash the head” of Raffi Hovannisian, Sarkisian’s main challenger in the February 2013 presidential election. The Armenian president, who repeatedly pledged to uphold justice during the presidential race, instead gave a major state award, the Order of Combat Cross, to the governor less than a month ago.

HHK representatives were cautious on Monday in reacting to the latest bloody incident linked to Khachatrian. “If he committed a crime, I think there will be an adequate punishment,” said Galust Sahakian, the party’s parliamentary leader. Sahakian stressed at the same time that that he still considers the notorious official’s track record to be “quite serious.”

I hope the scum rots behind bars.
No such luck for the nation unfortunately when criminals have friends in high places.

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[londontsi]

Re: Elections in Armenia