On The Campaign Trail: Tavoush Region

With a 7.45am start and the temperature well below zero, actually -7 to be precise, it was hardly the nicest of times to accompany other journalists on their way to cover the pre-election campaign of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation — Dashnaktsutyun’s Vahan Hovannisyan in the northeastern Tavoush region of Armenia.

True, more snow had fallen in the night and Yerevan looked magnificent illuminated only by street lights in a city center devoid of traffic and pedestrians, but it would have been nicer to depart a little later. As it happened, the two vans taking film crews left the ARF-D’s central headquarters an hour later than scheduled because timekeeping is unfortunately rarely observed here.

The early start was conditioned by the need to transport Hovannisian’s pre-election campaign materials as well as the billboards necessary for the event in the same vans. Still, it gave me time to grab a bite to eat at a local cafe in Ijevan and walk around the scenic town a little.

Tavoush is one of the most beautiful regions in Armenia, and a gem for Armenia’s embryonic post-independence tourism industry. At almost any time of year Ijevan and Dilijan are especially glorious, but the former positively shines when there’s snow on the ground. Things are tougher now when compared to their heyday as major resort towns, but there are attempts to rejuvenate the region following the post-Soviet collapse although unemployment and out-migration remains a problem.

Nevertheless, the tranquility of the region so far seems to be reflected in the pre-election campaign for next month’s presidential election. However, that’s not to say that there aren’t any problems. In particular, as it would appear that most of the candidates running for the 19 February vote have yet to arrive there, only the posters brought by the few that have are on display. With one exception, of course. Even though he is yet to campaign in the towns, posters advertising the candidacy of the prime minister, Serge Sargsyan, or his ruling Republican party are everywhere.

On a brighter note, there were also many Levon Ter-Petrosian campaign posters — including that with my photograph of the clenched fists — around. There had been one or two attempts to remove them, but otherwise they were intact and prominently on display on many streets and in public areas. It was also encouraging to discover that the campaign offices of both Levon Ter-Petrossian and Serge Sargsyan were not only next door to each other, but also housed in the same building.

As the two vans transporting journalists to cover Vahan Hovannisian’s pre-election campaign had also brought his campaign materials, those posters also started to appear. However, various violations of the electoral code were also noticeable. In particular, Sargsyan’s campaign posters adorned the facades of various government buildings including one polling station in Dilijan. Moreover, two men emerged (pictured below in the doorway) from PEC 41/06 and threatened to take my camera.

I stood my ground, identified myself as a journalist and told them they had no right to do so, but that didn’t stop them from attempting to intimidate me. Rather than comply, however, I told them again they had no right to do so and told them if they touched my camera I’d report them to the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission (EOM) and the Central Election Commission (CEC). Both wore the badges of Sargsyan’s Republican Party on their lapels which begs a very poignant and important question.

With voter’s lists now on display at polling stations across the country, what were two members of the Republican party doing loitering inside and around one of them? Moreover, why were they so concerned about photographs of the polling station and any pictures with them in frame? Opposition supporters and activists as well as domestic and international election observers will of course consider those two questions rhetorical.

Anyway, the situation is generally calm so far in Ijevan and Dilijan with no real major signs of gross violations of the electoral code or political pre-election tensions although the use of administrative resources in Sargsyan’s campaign is very noticeable indeed. Photographs and an account of Vahan Hovannisyan’s pre-election campaign in Ijevan and Dilijan will come later.

Photos: © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008