May 14, 2007

Heritage Report
on the Election Violations during Official Campaign Period
(April 8-May 9) for the Parliamentary Elections
of May 12, 2007

Despite the fact that all political forces, which had announced of their participation in the parliamentary elections scheduled in Armenia for May 12, had stated in December 2006 that they were going to endeavor for the holding of free, fair, and transparent elections, the monitoring of the pre-electoral period showed that there was an unfair election competition between the opposition and the pro-establishment forces in terms of media access, use of public facilities and billboard spaces, and campaign finance requirements. This competition, however, had started much earlier for those political forces that support the authorities.

The report presented on May 10 by the National Citizens’ Initiative, which finalizes the results for the monitoring—conducted between April 8 and May 9 and based on content analysis—of the newscasts of eight television companies, has revealed this extremely unequal coverage. Unlike most others, during the official campaign season, Raffi Hovannisian was not invited to even one talk show on any television station.

Observers from the “Choice is Yours” observation mission have likewise recorded incidents of campaign obstruction. At Karakert village, for example, the Heritage Party was not allowed to post campaign posters, whereas in Yerevan’s Shengavit community, the party was not allotted any place to post its placards. Throughout numerous communities, the party volunteers were forbidden to post campaign material at the polling stations, but in reply to a formal petition submitted to him to that effect by Heritage, chairman Garegin Azarian of the Central Election Commission (CEC) had allowed the posting of the material; this reply is posted at CEC’s official website. But even though the party showed this reply, the election commissions of the polling stations still did not allow the posting of campaign material.

During a press briefing held on April 20, Heritage’s spokesman Hovsep Khurshudian took note of the artificial difficulties and obstacles which the party campaign faced, specifically in the outlying regions, with respect to the lawful public posting of campaign posters and announcements. Accordingly, Heritage dispatched a formal letter to the Central Election Commission demanding a full explanation of these illegal actions.

Also on April 20, two young female volunteers who were distributing Heritage flyers in Yerevan’s Avan district were not immune from these attacks. At 5:15pm, midway through their campaigning, four unknown males, having exited a BMW 520 vehicle (license plate 02OU909), approached the college students, pushed them around, and confiscated nearly 300 Heritage brochures. A police report was immediately filed and Heritage volunteers gave testimony attesting to this felony. Maintaining the absence of corpus delicti, however, the prosecutor’s office refused to launch an official investigation.

“The fear in Kapan was fairly troublesome, and the citizens can free themselves of this fear only by joining forces,” stated Heritage’s spokesman Hovsep Khurshudian after his visit to the Siunik marz.

On May 4, Heritage candidate and Armenia’s first ombudswoman Larisa Alaverdian stated that during their visits to the marzes they had noticed that many citizens were in fear and those working for the authorities were making that fear grow worst. This fear is more apparent in the Siunik marz where, according to Heritage campaigners, people were even scared to accept the party booklets being distributed.

Within the framework of Heritage’s campaign visits to the Vayots Dzor and Siunik marzes, an unfortunate incident occurred on April 18. At Areni, the village elder confronted Heritage representatives, saying that no one could hold any election campaign in his village without a 5-day notice. Raffi Hovannisian, however, corrected the village elder. “Areni is no one’s private property. It first belongs to all the villagers, and then to the entire people of Armenia,” he said.

The voters at Chambarak town informed Heritage representatives visiting the Gegharkunik marz that they were instructed by the Republican Party and local authorities to cast their ballots in favor of the aforesaid party.

During Heritage’s campaign travel to the Armavir marz, at Lernagog, the village elder informed Raffi Hovannisian of the political decision reached by their village. “Our village is not involved in politics, there are no political parties in our village, and we favor the Republican Party,” he said. “I am not hiding it, we have made a political decision.”

Larisa Alaverdian also has reported of cases when passports were being collected from the citizens. In Giumri town, as case in point, the passports of 130 teachers were collected, photocopied, returned, and they were informed: “We will know whom you will vote for.” In fear of losing their jobs, the teachers agreed to cast their ballots in favor of the instructed party. “At the villages, they are mongering fear in other ways. They are telling the villagers that the letter informing them of the elections has a secret code which makes it possible to ascertain the voter’s choice,” Armenia’s first ombudswoman concluded.

The local authorities in other places, reminding of the existing and unclear stipulations in the Election Code, did not allow the posting of Heritage’s posters at the polling stations. The party has submitted a formal letter to the Central Election Commission demanding a full explanation.

On May 3, Heritage volunteers, who were distributing campaign material, were denied entry to a popular public market in Yerevan. “This is my market,” said the self-proclaimed owner. “You can complain to whomever you want.”

Heritage also faced a similar problem. Months before the official campaign cycle, the party had asked the “Zebra” and “Nushikian Association” private advertising companies to provide information with respect to the regulations for placing advertisements and regarding the billboards that could be used to place the party’s advertisement. Despite Heritage’s written petition, both companies verbally refused its request maintaining that they had no billboards available.

During a press briefing on May 4, Larisa Alaverdian reminded that over 800 thousand Armenian citizens are presently absent from the country and “the number of eligible voters presented by the authorities is overstated.” She also expressed a conviction that the deceased will likewise “vote” with us on May 12.

May 13, 2007
Yerevan