Elections in Armenia

[Artashes]

Re: Elections in Armenia

Has there been any public comment on " THE " meeting ?
Artashes

[Vahram]

Re: Elections in Armenia

Historically there never was such a thing as the "silk road". And what has it to do with modern trade routes with containers shipped by sea to massive ports that also act as distribution points, and with lightweight high-value items going by air. The only "road" that Armenia / Georgia / Azerbaijan are on is a dead-end, no-through-road one - they are not transit routes to anywhere, and, anyway, the days where an economy could prosper by taking thousands of little taxes and transit fees from passing merchants ended 700 years ago. What possible trade is there between Armenia and Iran that will benefit from a railway, what goods will it carry?

LOL!!

You can discredit yourself better then I can, keep it up as your level of intellect is very obvious. It's not up to me to educate you on the Historic silk road, if you really know this little about it then go educate yourself. China, Russia, Iran and United Arab Emirates are behind this project, Just when I thought you could be taken seriously! This will bring Armenia out of a blockade of course you would be apposed.

How about when we get the silk road up and running again we sell more tractors! At a cost of 8-25 thousand this will improve our exports and help the reindustrialization of Armenia!

http://armenpress.am/eng/news/708247/chinvan-tractors-assembled-in-armenia-are-much-in-demand-in-georgia.html

In fact one of the impediments to Armenia's exports of heavy goods is the lack cheap export routs. Rail is the cheapest type of transport beats shipping goods buy sea much more expensive then rail. Always has been always will. Now imagine the kind of market penetration when you can sell a tractor! By the time you ship a tractor even by land is 10X the price of rail, never mind air travel Armenia's current only export route.

[bell-the-cat]

Re: Elections in Armenia

You give the baboon too much credit for something that China, Russia and Iran are backing. I don't think you understand what this means, nor have you studied how China plays. This is the beginning of the new silk road, and this is a game changer. These are the facts on the ground, but again we will elect to ignore this for a mythical Armenians who are up to no good far too much credit on either end of the spectrum. One section of this railroad has already been extended, no one cares about the money made making the railroad everyone has their eyes on the prize, the goods that will flow freely on the new Silk Road. The last time the silk road was in play the Mongols and toorks managed to destroy this historic land bridge amongst nations. The Dragon has awakened, time to understand these facts, and the Dragon has not forgotten her old Friends! She fully realizes that the Armenia was an integral part of the silk road and has great value. Unlike your Western brothers, too busy with Orange this and spring that revolution to ever keep their eye on something constructive.

Silk road! Still living in the 13th century?

Historically there never was such a thing as the "silk road". And what has it to do with modern trade routes with containers shipped by sea to massive ports that also act as distribution points, and with lightweight high-value items going by air. The only "road" that Armenia / Georgia / Azerbaijan are on is a dead-end, no-through-road one - they are not transit routes to anywhere, and, anyway, the days where an economy could prosper by taking thousands of little taxes and transit fees from passing merchants ended 700 years ago. What possible trade is there between Armenia and Iran that will benefit from a railway, what goods will it carry?

[londontsi]

Re: Elections in Armenia

http://www.lragir.am/index.php/eng/0/comments/view/29019

“Civil Funeral” For RPA



It is already known that the main obstacle to the economic and political development of Armenia is the ruling party which, by the way, is getting older and at the same time does not refrain from any means to stay where it is now.

The latest elections were the resounding defeat of the Republican Party and its “civil funeral”. It is clear that no one trusts this party. Moreover, no one is afraid of it anymore. So, people in those cities which “traditionally” used to vote for the ruling party this time voted for the oppositional candidate, and this means that people are no longer afraid of repression.

Even international observers dwelt on the crisis of the ruling party. The State Dept. representative actually accused the RPA of misusing administrative resources, hinting that the party usurped power.

The RPA feels that the end is close. After Raffi Hovannisian stated on Freedom Square that he is going to stand up to the end to demand the power people gave to him, Eduard Sharmazanov, spokesman for the RPA, appealed with an anxious air to follow “the civilized way” and recognize Serzh Sargsyan’s victory. At the same time, the RPA will most probably cancel today’s rally to celebrate its victory on Freedom Square to avoid a meeting with demonstrators.

It is too late for the RPA to modernize itself. The only way is liquidation. This is the only way for normal people from the odious Republican Party to save their reputation and continue their political career.

However, before liquidation the RPA should decide the urgent issue of convincing everyone that it has won the elections. A campaign is being conducted actively to make sure that these elections have resulted in Serzh Sargsyan’s victory, and that the opposition is simply preparing for the next election. But as of now they have failed to convince it.

Vazgen Manukyan proposes another way. He says that Serzh Sargsyan should involve the opposition in governance. Most probably, this option is discussed, and Sargsyan will offer Raffi Hovannisian, maybe even Hrant Bagratyan high-ranking positions in the executive. This will not only involve the opposition in the management process but will also end the monopoly of the RPA.

In this sense, it is not ruled out that Raffi Hovannisian will accept the proposal if people on the square agree. It is possible that there is no other way to get into the system of public administration and defeat the RPA monopoly from the inside. Perhaps only civil disobedience and revolution.

[Federate]

Re: Elections in Armenia

Sorting Through Armenia's Contested Election


According to the official preliminary returns, Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian won reelection for a second term in the February 18 election with 58.64 percent of the vote.

His closest challenger, U.S.-born former Foreign Minister and opposition Zharangiutyun party chairman Raffi Hovannisian garnered 36.74 percent, followed by former Prime Minister Hrant Bagratian (2.15 percent), and Soviet-era dissident Paryur Hairikian (1.3 percent).

The remaining three candidates each polled less than 1 percent.

At a public meeting in Yerevan on February 19, Hovannisian rejected the official figures, declaring that he is the legitimately elected president. He publicly challenged Sarkisian to meet with him to discuss the situation, and set a deadline of late afternoon on February 20 for Sarkisian to demonstrate the "strength and manliness" to admit the outcome was rigged and to cede power "to the Armenian people."

Sarkisian has agreed to meet with Hovannisian "at any time that is convenient for him" in order to clarify Hovannisian's "somewhat incomprehensible" statements, according to Sarkisian's press secretary, Armen Arzumanian.

Ever since the two men seen as Sarkisian's most serious potential rivals -- former President Levon Ter-Petrossian and Prosperous Armenia party leader Gagik Tsarukian -- announced in December that they would not participate in the ballot, many Armenian observers have predicted that Sarkisian would win reelection easily in the first round and warned of the potential for fraud and ballot-stuffing that have marred virtually every election over the past 20 years and destroyed many voters' faith in the possibility of a democratic ballot.

Opinion polls and forecasts by organizations and individual pundits corroborated those predictions of an easy Sarkisian victory. A poll by Gallup International predicted 68 percent support for Sarkisian, compared with 24 percent for Hovannisian, while the Russian pollster VTsIOM predicted 61 percent for the incumbent and 24 percent for Hovannisian.

Precipitous Decline

By contrast, the European Friends of Armenia (EuFoA) registered a precipitous decline in support for Sarkisian in the wake of the January 31 incident in which Hairikian was shot and wounded outside his home.

A poll conducted by the EuFoA in early February registered a 10 percent decline since January, from 68.6 percent to 58 percent, in the number of voters who said they would vote for Sarkisian and a similar increase, from 20.8 to 33 percent, in the number who planned to vote for Hovannisian.

It should be borne in mind also that Sarkisian had to take into account the official outcome of the 2008 ballot in which, according to the Central Election Commission, he polled 52.86 percent of the vote compared with 21.5 percent for Ter-Petrossian.

Insofar as Ter-Petrossian was regarded as a far more serious challenger than Hovannisian in the current election, a vote of just 53-54 percent for Sarkisian this time around would imply a decline in his popularity, if one assumes that most of the estimated 80,000-90,000 voters who have emigrated over the past five years in the hope of a better life in exile were among those who voted for Ter-Petrossian in 2008.

By the same token, the official figure of 36.74 percent for Hovannisian calls into question the accuracy of the 21.5 percent Ter-Petrossian is said to have garnered in 2008, and which he never accepted as an accurate or legitimate figure.

Ter-Petrossian has not yet publicly commented on the results of this week's election.

Nonetheless, parliament deputy Lyudmila Sarkisian (no relation to Serzh), a member of Ter-Petrossian's Armenian National Congress, said she cannot believe that Hovannisian polled more votes than Ter-Petrossian did five years ago.

According to the official returns, Hovannisian won more votes than Sarkisian in three districts in Yerevan, Armenia's second- and third-largest cities of Gyumri and Vanadzor, as well as several major towns.

Western-Style Campaign

There is likewise little way of determining whether and how many voters cast their ballots for Hovannisian not because they wholeheartedly endorsed his election program (which calls, among other things, for the recognition by Armenia of Azerbaijan's breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region as an independent state), but because they wanted, first and foremost, to register their rejection of Sarkisian, and regarded Hovannisian as the most palatable and credible alternative.

Hovannisian incurred Sarkisian's ire by depicting the election campaign as almost a Manichaean struggle between good and evil as exemplified by "Raffi's Armenia" and "Serzh's Armenia."

Similarly difficult to quantify is the impact of Hovannisian's Western-style campaign. Eschewing the mass rallies preferred by Sarkisian, the engaging and articulate Hovannisian instead toured various districts of Yerevan on foot, randomly greeting people in the street, shops, and other public settings, shaking hands and handing out his campaign booklets.

Laszlo Kemeny of the International Center for Electoral Systems interpreted the election results as a vote of no confidence and a wake-up call to Sarkisian.

Kemeny was quoted as telling journalists that "this was not a struggle between two leaders; there is one leader here, but that state of affairs is not eternal, and unless there are cardinal changes in the socioeconomic life of the country, new figures do not appear in the leadership and a redistribution of political forces does not take place, then the authorities will get a 'red card' on top of this 'yellow card.'"

Hovannisian did not say on February 19 what steps he planned to take if Sarkisian ignored his ultimatum.

In an interview in late January, however, he made it clear that he would seek to avoid at all costs a repeat of the violent postelection confrontations in 2008 between angry Ter-Petrossian supporters and police and security personnel in which 10 people died.

While stressing that he would not tolerate fraud, Hovannisian declared at the same time that "I don't want a bloody revolution...I am not prepared to risk the life of any Armenian." He said he would, however, "do everything that the constitution and laws allow me."

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/02/sorting-through-armenias-contested-election/273359/

[Mher]

Re: Elections in Armenia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIe5amQmoQI

via Panorama.am

[Mher]

Re: Presidential elections 2008 in Armenia

Raffi meeting Serj

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=450748224995059&set=a.206762412726976.49372.195018463901371&type=1&theater

[Mher]

Re: Elections in Armenia

http://civilnet.am/2013/02/18/live-%D5%A8%D5%B6%D5%BF%D6%80%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%A9%D5%B5%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%B6%D5%B6%D5%A5%D6%80-2013/

Live Right Now
Rafi meeting Serj
Protestors outside

[arakeretzig]

Re: Elections in Armenia

If this is going to be a repeat of 2008, it's going to turn off many people. I disagree with Raffi announcing himself President-elect, we can't know that and every poll before the elections projected Serge to win yet he is claiming overwhelming victory. He should have instead called for annulments or recounts or to hold new elections.

The rally itself is disappointing. Raffi's mandate as opposition leader is stronger than LTP (he actually got more votes than that scum did in 2008) yet there's only max 10,000 people at his rally with observers saying 5,000.

raffi only got more votes cause there was no other alternatives to serj. And serj can't just put raffi's 32% on his 58%, it would be too obvious. Hence, what happened.

[Mher]

Re: Elections in Armenia

Pre-election online voting

http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/647/electam.png

http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/669/aravotamcopy.png