A visiting senior U.S. official on Monday praised the Armenian government’s conduct of recent parliamentary elections and expressed hope that it will bolster Armenia’s ties with the West.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza described the May 12 vote as the most democratic in the country’s history after holding talks with President Robert Kocharian and leaders of the main Armenian parties.

“I would like to recognize and congratulate Armenia for its success in holding what appears to be the freest and fairest election in this phase of Armenia’s independence,” Bryza told reporters, echoing the findings of Western election observers.

“These elections were a real step forward in the development of democracy in Armenia,” he said. “These elections brought the Armenian electoral process closer to international standards than any previous election. But there is still some room to go.”

ARMENIANS DIVIDED OVER PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION RESULTS - OPINION POLL

Mediamax news agency
24 Jul 07

Yerevan, 24 July: A total of 49.8 per cent of Armenian respondents have described the 12 May parliamentary election as “free and transparent but unfair”.

That is the finding of an opinion poll conducted by the Armenian sociological association on 6-12 July. A total of 1,200 Armenian citizens were polled.

A total of 12.5 per cent of respondents said that the election was “free, transparent and fair”, whereas 28.5 per cent said that the election was not free and fair. As many as nine per cent of the respondents could not answer the question.

A total of 48.5 per cent of respondents said they were satisfied with the election results, whereas 46.9 per cent said they were not.

As many as 65 per cent of respondents said that there were serious irregularities that might have affected the election results. At the same time, 21.1 per cent of respondents expressed the opposite opinion.

For Immediate Release

July 23, 2007

Heritage: The “Armenian Watergate” Case Finally Under Scrutiny

Yerevan—Today, July 23, the Armenian Prosecutor General’s Office formally informed Heritage Party Chairman and newly-elected Member of Parliament Raffi K. Hovannisian that it has filed criminal charges, as law and evidence require, and ordered a full investigation into the case of the “Armenian Watergate”—the theft last year of constitutionally-protected information from the computer database at Heritage headquarters.

On June 21, the Central and Nork-Marash Court of First Instance had ruled in favor of Hovannisian’s appeal of the Prosecutor General’s refusal to launch an official inquiry into the break-in. In its judgment, the Court had annulled the Prosecutor General’s final decision not to institute criminal proceedings based on this Armenian version of the Watergate scandal and effectively instructed him to reopen the investigation.

Founded in 2002, Heritage has regional divisions throughout the land. Its central office is located at 31 Moscovian Street, Yerevan 0002, Armenia, with telephone contact at (374-10) 536.913, fax at (374-10) 532.697, email at office@heritage.am or info@heritage.am, and website at http://www.heritage.am

Observers from the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) have reaffirmed their largely positive assessment of the Armenian authorities’ handling of the May 12 parliamentary elections, while noting major irregularities in the vote count and tabulation.

“The Parliamentary elections in Armenia, held on 12 May 2007, were largely held in line with Council of Europe commitments and standards for democratic elections, although shortcomings remain,” they said in a report unveiled at the ongoing PACE session in Strasbourg on Monday.

[…]

Still, the OSCE observers, who accounted for the bulk of the 400-strong IEOM, toned down the praise in a subsequent follow-up statement. They said counting of ballots in a large number of polling stations and their subsequent tabulation by district election commissions was deeply flawed.

The PACE monitors echoed the criticism, saying that the vote count was “protracted in most cases.” They reported “significant errors” in 8 percent of polling stations observed and “deliberate falsifications of the results” in some of those precincts.

“Regrettably, the situation deteriorated during the tabulation process,” the report said, adding that the process was “generally disorganized.”

Like their OSCE colleagues, the PACE observers deplored the “inexplicable” delay in the publication by Armenia’s Central Election Commission of precinct-by-precinct vote results from Yerevan. “In addition, by a decision of the CEC, the special computer network was not used by the Yerevan [district election commissions] to enter their results,” read their report.

Incidentally, from a personal point of view, I am not disheartened by the 12 May parliamentary election although I was by the elections in 2003 which were noticeably worse and at times incredibly tense. However, as I’ve said again and again, there is still a lot that needs to be done although I personally feel that the 2008 vote will also be an improvement over 2003.

Nevertheless, it won’t be as free and fair as I’d hope, but the point is that it has to be better, and I think it will be. Then, after that vote, the problems will have to be examined and rectified and so on. Basically, if I never thought there was the prospect for albeit slow democratization after the 2003 elections, I feel more optimistic after the 12 May parliamentary vote.

They were a step forward, no doubt, but they were not free and fair, although I’d add that if true, people willingly took bribes without a second thought and did what was expected of them without any additional and more sinister pressure. In a sense, that was probably because few saw any alternative on offer in the opposition ranks and I daresay people wouldn’t have voted otherwise.

Still, as strange as it sounds, that was an “advance” too, but now faith needs to be restored in the political system in Armenia and the electorate need to make informed choices for future votes. As someone said to me after the parliamentary election, Armenia needs civic educational programs targeting future voters from a very young age. People need to feel like citizens and that their vote matters.

May 22, 2007

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, applauded Armenia this week for holding free and fair Parliamentary elections on May 12.

The New Jersey Congressman spoke on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in honor of the election, and sent a congratulatory letter to Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan and President Robert Kocharian.

“This is the first positive assessment of an election in the former Soviet republic since it gained independence in 1991,” Pallone said in his statement on the House floor. “This encouraging outcome will most certainly enhance and deepen U.S.-Armenia relations, while also elevating Armenia’s reputation regionally and internationally.”

On May 12, 2007 Armenia held Parliamentary elections which, based on public preliminary reports, have received a “free and fair” stamp of approval. The International Election Observation Mission issued a statement which read in part: “The election is assessed in line with OSCE and Council of Europe commitments, other international standards for democratic elections and national legislation.”

“The success of this free and fair election cycle reflects the great progress made by Armenia in recent years to move further away from its Soviet past and towards a flourishing democracy,” Pallone wrote to Sargsyan and Kocharian. “Your hard work and dedication has led to the citizens of your country following the lead of their government officials in operating in a free and democratic way to elect a new Parliament.”

Pallone also took this opportunity to renew his commitment to the request he made earlier this year calling for $75 million in assistance for Armenia in Fiscal Year 2008. The lawmaker reminded his colleagues that the assistance would demonstrate the U.S.’s commitment to Armenia, which he called a friend and a supporter of U.S. policies for peace and security in that region of the world.

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/nj06_pallone/pr_armelec_052207.html

EU Presidency : The Parliamentary Elections In Armenia Were, On The Whole, Free And Fair

ArmRadio.am
15.05.2007

Presidency of the European Union (EU) stated “with satisfaction” that the parliamentary elections held in Armenia on 12 May “were, on the whole, conducted fairly, freely and largely in accordance with the international commitments which Armenia had entered into.”