On The Campaign Trail: Vahan Hovannisian
Saturday’s pre-election campaign by Armenian Revolutionary Federation — Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) presidential candidate Vahan Hovannisian in the north-eastern Tavoush region marked a refreshing change. Rather than follow the predictable revolutionary politics of the street by former president, Levon Ter-Petrossian, or the carefully stage-managed media moments of the prime minister, Serge Sargsyan, Hovannisian did something somewhat unique for Armenia. He actually campaigned.
Indeed, the party’s attempt to bring new campaigning technology into the area of elections has been noticed by everybody since last year’s parliamentary election in Armenia. Coupled with the fact that the party has not been as personality-based as others, many consider that it has the most democratic structure in the country. Moreover, its standing as the oldest active political party in Armenia paid off during the 2007 parliamentary vote. The ARF-D attracted 177,907 or 13.2 percent of the vote.
As a member of Socialist International, the party also has a very definite left-wing orientation, but its more nationalist policies on Azerbaijan and Turkey might lead some to consider it more national-socialist than socialist. Interestingy, its campaign promise to increase pensions during the May 2007 parliamentary election were dismissed by the prime minister as unachievable although somewhat ironically, Sargsyan went on to do the same a few months later anyway.
Writing for E-Channel, Gor Abrahamyan assessed Hovannisian’s campaign as well as his chances of contesting next month’s vote.
The ARFP candidate had two strong resources for the start. First of all, the traditionally stable and guaranteed segment of voters for Dashnaktsutyun. Secondly, the strong discipline maintained inside the party, which was demonstrated during the parliamentary elections in May, 2007. Vahan Hovhannisyan’s propaganda is also different from the others since he has been promoting the team, the party, the platform and the ideology. None of the teams of any of the candidates taking part in the elections can be striking with such characteristic features.
ARFP introduces completely new technologies to the Armenian political culture that evoke certain interest in the activities of Vahan Hovhannisyan’s electoral headquarters and, consequently, also the candidate of ARFP. […] They have been conveying a more civilized nature to the ARFP campaign, not allowing giving due to the woven political intrigues.
ARFP is the only force involved in electoral struggle least expected to reject nomination in favor of another candidate. After the parliamentary elections in 2007, ARFP allowed no digression from its adopted path, remaining loyal to the position of participating in the presidential elections with his own candidate. It was obvious from the beginning that the party, having received positions from RPA, would take advantage of the administrative resources they had, which they have been doing now extremely cautiously.
[…] the modern occidental political technologies applied by the party have been gradually releasing ARFP from the conservative/nationalist image, conveying an image of a modern social/democrat force instead.
That certainly appears to be the case almost a week since the official pre-election campaign began on 21 January. From the very beginning, Hovannisian’s campaign was typified by music, color and almost the type of atmosphere to be experienced at campaign rallies by presidential hopefuls in the United States. The staging of public mock primaries to determine the ARF-D’s candidate in November, as well as the signing of individual contracts between Hovannisian and voters from the end of December, makes such a comparison even more appropriate.
The advances in election techniques were not lost on Blogian.
When the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) - a political party in Armenia - held an open-to-all pre-election vote to decide which of their leaders should run for presidency in 2008, I jokingly told my sister this was the first transparent and democratic presidential election in Armenia’s entire history.
It is quite funny and somewhat ironic, but the nationalist ARF or Dashnak party is introducing democracy in Armenia through very creative and unique ways.
[…]
I don’t think I’d vote for the ARF candidate if I lived in Armenia (in fact, I might boycott the elections), but I can’t hide my support for the healthy campaign they have been doing so far for the 2008 elections. They are clearly introducing a culture of fair and fun politics in Armenia which supports the democratization and builds general trust for elections.
Despite many dark aspects of the ARF history, I think they are making history today by creating a culture of transparency and trust through simple campaign strategies.
And it is not all about gaining power this time, it seems ARF is delivering a Ralph-Nader-kind of message.
According to Panorama.am, as of 17 January 2008, 117,000 voters had signed contracts with Hovannisian and the ARF-D. The idea was simple, but while also open to abuse and falsification, such a move is an interesting check against electoral fraud if accurate . Other parties have yet to show such a developed and evolutionary approach to the electoral process in Armenia.
In Tavoush, actual campaigning by Hovannisian appeared to meet these expectations. Rather than surround himself by security instructed not to let anyone — including journalists, photographers, and cameramen — within five meters as Ter-Petrossian does when campaigning in central Yerevan, or busing in people to pre-election meetings as is the case with Sargsyan, Hovannisian was totally approachable and there was no security in sight.
Basically, rather than remain aloof from voters, he found himself among them.
Of course, that is not to say that some concerns remain. The ARF-D-affiliated Yerkir Media TV not only shot footage for their own news reports, but also for Hovannisian’s pre-election campaign TV ads. The fact that the Yerkir Media TV van also had a large portrait of Hovannisian with his main campaign slogan, “I am with Vahan,” on both sides raises some questions about the station’s neutrality. That said, in comparison with other TV outlets, media monitoring groups still consider Yerkir Media TV to be the most balanced albeit with some concerns.
Anyway, accompanied by ARF-D Minister of Agriculture David Lokian and famous Armenian singer-songwriter Rouben Hakhverdian, Hovannisian’s campaign wasn’t only the most normal of the four candidates this blog has covered so far, but it was also the most refreshing. Perhaps that’s why among the sight of pensioners and photogenic children at the meetings in Ijevan and Dilijan there were many more young Armenians than at Ter-Petrossian or Sargsyan’s pre-election campaign meetings.
Such a broad cross-section of the population is unheard of at at rallies by Ter-Petrossian and Sargsyan although last year’s parliamentary election shows that Artur Baghdasarian can also attract many young Armenians too, especially women. Moreover, rather than prepare for “revolution” as Ter-Petrossian appears to be doing, or conducting a rather “lifeless” campaign as is Sargsyan, there was definitely a more cheerful and optimistic spirit at Hovannisian’s rallies. Nonetheless, there were also attempts at black propaganda.
While also speaking about the need to develop Armenia’s regions as well as the huge economic divide between Central Yerevan and the rest of the capital as well as the country, Hovannisian specifically took the opportunity to lambaste Levon Ter-Petrossian and his former regime. Hovannisian attributed many of the problems facing Armenia today to the former president. However, others would argue that if anyone had the right to, it is him.
Under Ter-Petrossian’s presidency the ARF-D was banned and Hovannisian spent over two years in jail, effectively as a political prisoner. Indeed, RFE/RL’s Emil Danielyan wrote for the Jamestown Foundation that Ter-Petrossian’s actions were a “landmark in Armenia’s retreat from democracy.” Considering the amount of resentment that the ARF-D and Hovannisian might harbor towards the former president, however, there was otherwise no sign of it manifesting itself in more confrontational ways.
Ter-Petrossian posters from his own rally in Ijevan adorned the wall behind Hovannisian and were ignored. There was no attempt to remove them. Instead, after finding a ladder, ARF-D activists merely stuck their own in the space above. Besides, given the attempts at black PR from Ter-Petrossian and the pro-Sargsyan team, it’s perhaps no wonder that others such as Heritage’s Raffi Hovannisian are rumored to be considering lending the ARF-D candidate their support.
There’s just one problem, though. Despite statements to the contrary, the ARF-D can still be considered part of the government. While ARF-D activists argue that they are actually in “positive opposition” and believe that the system can only be changed from within, others treat such remarks with some skepticism. Complicating the situation is also the fact that Vahan Hovannisian is an in-law of the prime minister and presidential favorite, Serge Sargsyan.
It is for this reason that Raffi Hovannisian (no relation) is believed to be waiting until 9 February when candidates can not pull out of the presidential election race before making his mind up once and for all as to who to support. However, the concerns are legitimate and can even be heard from some ARF-D supporters let alone those hoping for a Ter-Petrossian victory. Indeed, both matters were recently raised by the readers of the sometimes pro-Ter-Petrossian Hetq Online publication. Hovannisian nonetheless responded.
It seems to me, that when people have nothing else to criticize about our campaign, they come up with this question even though I have answered it so many times. Serge Sargsyan is my in-law’s brother, my daughter is married to the son of one of his brothers. If so far you have not grasped from my public announcements and speeches how aggressive my campaign is going to be, then there’s nothing I can tell you that will make you change your mind. I suggest you follow my campaign closely and see for yourself how aggressive it is.
[…]
I am not a member of the government, our party has a cooperation agreement with the ruling coalition and we have three cabinet ministers as a result. […]
At this stage it is too early to speculate whether Vahan Hovannisian stands a chance of becoming the main alternative contender to the presidential favorite, Serge Sargsyan. Although Hovannisian’s pre-election campaign has much to commend, the fact that Heritage and Raffi Hovannisian are now believed to be waiting until a likely second round of voting before supporting an alternative candidate to the prime minister makes the situation more difficult.
Of course, Hovannisian can perhaps probably count on the 177,000 votes the ARF-D attracted in the May 2007 parliamentary election, but he needs more than that if he is serious about winning the election. Nevertheless, representing a sizable number of voters, even that means his share of the vote could well determine which of the other main opposition candidates takes second place. What Hovannisian needs, however, is Heritage’s support before the first round of voting on 19 February.
Photos: © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008
- Published:
- 01.28.08 / 6pm by Onnik
- Category:
- 2007 Parliamentary Election, Analysis, Armenia, Armenia Presidential Election 2008, Campaign, Candidates, Democracy, Parties, Photojournalism, Rallies, Regions
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