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ARMENIAN RULING PARTY WOOS KEY ELECTION RIVALS
Sargis Harutyunyan
http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24540254.html
06.04.2012
Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian addresses a pre-election congress
of his Republican Party, 10 Mar 2012.
The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) has proposed alternative
cooperation frameworks to the country's other major political forces
after they pledged to jointly strive to prevent serious fraud in next
month's parliamentary elections.
Parliament speaker Samvel Nikoyan, a senior HHK figure, met on Friday
with representatives of all but one of those groups to discuss his
idea of setting up a multi-partisan "working group" that would monitor
the conduct of the May 6 polls. The group would specifically assess
the enforcement of Armenia's Electoral Code.
A statement by Nikoyan's office said the non-Republican participants
promised to report to their respective parties before officially
responding to the speaker's initiative.
Another senior HHK lawmaker, Davit Harutiunian, made a related proposal
on behalf of his party late on Thursday. Harutiunian proposed a code
of conduct which he said would ensure "civilized competition" among
the eight parties and one alliance running for the parliament.
"We are proposing that all participants of the electoral process
voluntarily adopt rules for civilized competition," Harutiunian told
RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "That means they should also
take on political responsibility and ensure that the common rules
will be respected not only by their members, officials or proxies
but also their sympathizers."
Armenia - Davit Harutiunian, chairman of the parliament committee on
legal affairs, at a news conference.xArmenia - Davit Harutiunian,
chairman of the parliament committee on legal affairs, at a news
conference.
According to the draft rules circulated by Harutiunian in a separate
statement, the election contenders would pledge to not impede each
other's election campaigns, to avoid "provocative and slanderous"
rhetoric, to respect freedom of speech and to refrain from illicitly
exploiting "administrative resources." Also, each political force
would have to recognize official election results if other participants
abide by the proposed code of conduct.
The HHK initiatives came after the party's main partner in the
governing coalition, the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), and the
country's three main opposition groups agreed to set up a joint task
force that would seek to detect, expose or prevent vote rigging. Their
senior representatives signed a declaration on the creation of the
Inter-Party Center for Public Oversight of the Elections on Wednesday.
The Armenian National Congress (HAK), the largest and most radical
opposition group, was quick to reject the HHK overtures. "The main
organizer and perpetrator of vote falsifications in Armenia is Serzh
Sarkisian's regime embodied by the Republican Party, and naturally
such initiatives by that force are unacceptable," HAK coordinator
Levon Zurabian told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) on Friday.
"The authorities are very worried about the creation by the four
political forces of a joint coordinating center to fight against
fraud," Zurabian said. "Now they will come up with one initiative
after another."
Accordingly, HAK representatives boycotted the meeting chaired
by Nikoyan.
The other political heavyweights reserved judgment on Harutiunian's
proposal. Naira Zohrabian, a BHK leader, said her party is looking
into it and will respond "later on."
"We don't reject anything out of hand," said Ruben Hakobian, deputy
chairman of the opposition Zharangutyun (Heritage) party. "But we
want proposed documents to have real mechanisms that would really
ensure the holding of fair elections."
Artush Shahbazian, a senior member of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) implied that the code of conduct favored
by the HHK should only be part of the broader cooperation framework
agreed by the four forces. Speaking to RFE/RL's Armenian service
(Azatutyun.am), Shahbazian suggested that Harutiunian present his
ideas at their next meeting scheduled for April 11.
The HHK, which is headed by President Sarkisian, was also invited to
join the Inter-Party Center for Public Oversight of the Elections
but turned down the offer. The HHK's Harutiunian said the idea of
creating the unprecedented multi-partisan structure was "good in
itself" but not "properly prepared."
Sargis Harutyunyan
http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24540254.html
06.04.2012
Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian addresses a pre-election congress
of his Republican Party, 10 Mar 2012.
The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) has proposed alternative
cooperation frameworks to the country's other major political forces
after they pledged to jointly strive to prevent serious fraud in next
month's parliamentary elections.
Parliament speaker Samvel Nikoyan, a senior HHK figure, met on Friday
with representatives of all but one of those groups to discuss his
idea of setting up a multi-partisan "working group" that would monitor
the conduct of the May 6 polls. The group would specifically assess
the enforcement of Armenia's Electoral Code.
A statement by Nikoyan's office said the non-Republican participants
promised to report to their respective parties before officially
responding to the speaker's initiative.
Another senior HHK lawmaker, Davit Harutiunian, made a related proposal
on behalf of his party late on Thursday. Harutiunian proposed a code
of conduct which he said would ensure "civilized competition" among
the eight parties and one alliance running for the parliament.
"We are proposing that all participants of the electoral process
voluntarily adopt rules for civilized competition," Harutiunian told
RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "That means they should also
take on political responsibility and ensure that the common rules
will be respected not only by their members, officials or proxies
but also their sympathizers."
Armenia - Davit Harutiunian, chairman of the parliament committee on
legal affairs, at a news conference.xArmenia - Davit Harutiunian,
chairman of the parliament committee on legal affairs, at a news
conference.
According to the draft rules circulated by Harutiunian in a separate
statement, the election contenders would pledge to not impede each
other's election campaigns, to avoid "provocative and slanderous"
rhetoric, to respect freedom of speech and to refrain from illicitly
exploiting "administrative resources." Also, each political force
would have to recognize official election results if other participants
abide by the proposed code of conduct.
The HHK initiatives came after the party's main partner in the
governing coalition, the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), and the
country's three main opposition groups agreed to set up a joint task
force that would seek to detect, expose or prevent vote rigging. Their
senior representatives signed a declaration on the creation of the
Inter-Party Center for Public Oversight of the Elections on Wednesday.
The Armenian National Congress (HAK), the largest and most radical
opposition group, was quick to reject the HHK overtures. "The main
organizer and perpetrator of vote falsifications in Armenia is Serzh
Sarkisian's regime embodied by the Republican Party, and naturally
such initiatives by that force are unacceptable," HAK coordinator
Levon Zurabian told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) on Friday.
"The authorities are very worried about the creation by the four
political forces of a joint coordinating center to fight against
fraud," Zurabian said. "Now they will come up with one initiative
after another."
Accordingly, HAK representatives boycotted the meeting chaired
by Nikoyan.
The other political heavyweights reserved judgment on Harutiunian's
proposal. Naira Zohrabian, a BHK leader, said her party is looking
into it and will respond "later on."
"We don't reject anything out of hand," said Ruben Hakobian, deputy
chairman of the opposition Zharangutyun (Heritage) party. "But we
want proposed documents to have real mechanisms that would really
ensure the holding of fair elections."
Artush Shahbazian, a senior member of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) implied that the code of conduct favored
by the HHK should only be part of the broader cooperation framework
agreed by the four forces. Speaking to RFE/RL's Armenian service
(Azatutyun.am), Shahbazian suggested that Harutiunian present his
ideas at their next meeting scheduled for April 11.
The HHK, which is headed by President Sarkisian, was also invited to
join the Inter-Party Center for Public Oversight of the Elections
but turned down the offer. The HHK's Harutiunian said the idea of
creating the unprecedented multi-partisan structure was "good in
itself" but not "properly prepared."