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'WE FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE...' US ANALYSIS OF 2009 YEREVAN MAYORAL ELECTION
epress.am
09.08.2011 10:52
On Jun. 18, 2009, then US Charge d'Affaires in Yerevan Joseph
Pennington sent an unclassified cable to the US State Department,
analyzing the results of the May 31 mayoral election in the Armenian
capital. Pennington notes that the election displays a "curious
pattern":
"Voter turnout was highest in the Territorial Electoral Commissions
(TECs) most ridden with allegations of fraud. This is most apparent in
the results of TECs 7 and 8, which comprise the troubled district of
Malatia-Sebastia... and parts of the adjacent Shengavit and Ajapnyak
districts, [where] over 40 of their combined 66 precincts recorded
voter turnout of over 60 percent, compared to an overall average
turnout of 53.5 percent."
In the cable released by WikiLeaks late last month, Pennington states
that the Armenian National Congress results show that this opposition
bloc performed best where voter turnout was lowest, "most likely
because these TECs were not the main targets of ballot stuffing and
other forms of electoral fraud."
"In the end, however, we will never know how many votes the RPA
[the Republican Party of Armenia] won legitimately, and how many were
fraudulent. We nevertheless find it hard to believe that RPA won fair
and square the forty percent of votes it needed to gain a majority
in the city council, and more importantly, the right to elevate its
top candidate to the post of mayor. We also find it hard to believe
that the ANC won only five precincts in the recent election, down from
the 80-plus it won in the 2008 presidential election," concludes the
US diplomat.
From: Baghdasarian
epress.am
09.08.2011 10:52
On Jun. 18, 2009, then US Charge d'Affaires in Yerevan Joseph
Pennington sent an unclassified cable to the US State Department,
analyzing the results of the May 31 mayoral election in the Armenian
capital. Pennington notes that the election displays a "curious
pattern":
"Voter turnout was highest in the Territorial Electoral Commissions
(TECs) most ridden with allegations of fraud. This is most apparent in
the results of TECs 7 and 8, which comprise the troubled district of
Malatia-Sebastia... and parts of the adjacent Shengavit and Ajapnyak
districts, [where] over 40 of their combined 66 precincts recorded
voter turnout of over 60 percent, compared to an overall average
turnout of 53.5 percent."
In the cable released by WikiLeaks late last month, Pennington states
that the Armenian National Congress results show that this opposition
bloc performed best where voter turnout was lowest, "most likely
because these TECs were not the main targets of ballot stuffing and
other forms of electoral fraud."
"In the end, however, we will never know how many votes the RPA
[the Republican Party of Armenia] won legitimately, and how many were
fraudulent. We nevertheless find it hard to believe that RPA won fair
and square the forty percent of votes it needed to gain a majority
in the city council, and more importantly, the right to elevate its
top candidate to the post of mayor. We also find it hard to believe
that the ANC won only five precincts in the recent election, down from
the 80-plus it won in the 2008 presidential election," concludes the
US diplomat.
From: Baghdasarian