InternationalEuropean observers say May 12 will be a touchstone for Armenian democracy"
Should Armenian voters keep their fingers clean?
Published: Saturday April 21, 2007
Leo Platvoet of PACE answers reporters’ questions at Armenia’s National Assembly. Photolure.
"The upcoming Parliamentary elections in Armenia on 12 May will be a crucial touchstone for the degree of maturity of democracy in Armenia." A four-member "pre-election delegation" of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) reached this conclusion during a visit to Armenia that lasted from April 10 to 13. The delegation had been invited by the speaker of Armenia's National Assembly.
The delegation's conclusions were based on back-to-back meetings over the course of four days. They were announced by Leo Platvoet (The Netherlands, Group of the Unified European Left), head of the delegation, who spoke at the National Assembly on April 13.
The other members of the cross-party team were Georges Colombier (France, European People's Party Group), Ewald Lindinger (Austria, Socialist Group), and Bernard Marquet (Monaco, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe).
The delegation met with the president, the speaker, the ministers of justice and foreign affairs, the chair of the Central Electoral Commission, representatives of various political parties participating in the elections, members of the Constitutional Court and of the Office of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, and representatives of the mass media and nongovernmental organizations.
"The delegation was heartened by the assurances of the Armenian authorities, and all political stakeholders it met, that it is their intention to hold elections that fully meet Council of Europe standards for democratic elections. In this respect the delegation stresses that it is the responsibility of all parties and stakeholders to adhere to the rules that a genuinely democratic process demands.
"The delegation took note of the improved election code, which has generally passed the expert analysis of the Council of Europe's Venice Commission. The election code forms a sound basis for the conduct of democratic elections if it is fully implemented in good faith.
"The delegation welcomes the efforts by the authorities to create a centralized voters' list, in line with longstanding recommendations by the Parliamentary Assembly. However, the delegation also notes the concerns of several interlocutors that the accuracy of the voters' lists still leaves a lot to be desired. It therefore calls upon the authorities to continue, and if necessary step up, all efforts to ensure the highest possible accuracy of the voters' list on Election Day."
The day before the delegation's arrival, however, the head of the Passport and Visa Department of Armenia's police had announced that voter lists are posted at every precinct and also online (at www.elections.am). She had urged voters to check the lists and report errors through a hotline established for the purpose or via letter or email. Her request was broadcast by all media throughout the country. (See also last week's edition of the Armenian Reporter.) In addition, the U.S. government and the International Foundation for Election Systems are modernizing the Passport and Visa Department's computer systems for this same purpose.
[On April 19, the Passport and Visa Department announced that in the ten days since the announcement, 10,254 names had been removed from the rolls. Of these, 3,680 were the names of deceased voters.]
Inky fingers?
The PACE delegation said it "regrets the reluctance by the majority of the political players in Armenia to introduce the inking of voters fingers, as advised by the Venice Commission, as a proven mechanism to prevent multiple voting."
Since the countries represented by the four members of the delegation do not require voters to have their fingers inked upon voting, this correspondent asked how many member countries of the Council of Europe follow the practice. "I don't know how many countries," Mr. Platvoet said, "But I have been an observer in Azerbaijan, Albania, and Serbia, and Mr. Marquet in Montenegro, and those countries do. Also, Mexico, which has observer status in the Council of Europe, has this practice."
During the press conference, Mr. Platvoet said the delegation tried to avoid double standards. "The fact remains, however - and by the way, the government and all political parties agree - that a lot has to improve in order for Armenia to have good elections. The principle is this: if you want to have free and fair elections, the condition is public trust in the system. And we hope that this trust will grow during this election cycle."
The delegation said it "was concerned over its overall impression of a lack of popular interest in the election process by the electorate. Such attitudes of apathy, or even cynicism, are not conducive to the development of democracy in Armenia. The delegation was not able, with few notable exceptions, to discern marked differences between the political platforms of the contenders. It was left with the impression that the upcoming elections are regarded by many as a struggle between political elites and not between concepts and ideas. In relation to this, the delegation is concerned that in a number of constituencies only one candidate is running for the majoritarian mandate, thereby not allowing the electorate in those constituencies a fully democratic choice."
Would voter apathy or similarities among the platforms of various parties lead the delegation to assess the election as not free and fair, this correspondent wanted to know. "We have to be honest and in our statement we simply repeated those general thoughts that were shared with us during our visit. Of course we hope this will contribute to fair and free elections."
Campaign ads
The statement continued: "The delegation would like to stress that a level playing field in the campaign, and full respect for the principles of freedom of expression and assembly, are key conditions for democratic elections. It is therefore concerned by the uneven conditions for the political players, as highlighted by the media monitoring sponsored by the Council of Europe. In this respect the exorbitant costs for paid political advertising demanded by broadcasters are deeply regretted."
