Tweet
Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
IWPR Caucasus Reporting #678
March 2 2013
Armenia: Opposition Candidate Campaigns to Annul Election
Raffi Hovhannisyan did better than expected, but insists he was robbed
of victory.
By Arpi Beglaryan - Caucasus
CRS Issue 678, 2 Mar 13
Raffi Hovhannisyan, defeated in Armenia's presidential election, has
been touring the country, telling supporters he is the real victor, as
part of a campaign to get the results overturned and a fresh balllot
held..
The United States-born politician's tour of the country, in which he
has made a point of stopping to chat with members of the public, has
been dubbed the `Barevolution' - from the Armenian word `barev',
meaning `hi'.
Official results from the February 18 ballot show that the incumbent
president Serzh Sargsyan won easily with 58.7 per cent. But
Hovhannisyan's unexpectedly high score of 36.7 per cent has galvanised
his supporters and emboldened him to allege openly that the vote was
rigged. (See Armenia: Presidential Challenger Rejects Poll Result..)
Hovhannisyan is head of the Heritage Party, a small opposition party,
but he appears to have become the focus for anti-Sargsyan feeling once
the major opposition forces boycotted the poll.
There is wide popular dissatisfaction about poverty, the sluggish
economy, and the number of people forced to emigrate to find work.
`Hovhannisyan became de facto the unifying candidate for the
opposition,' Yervand Borzoyan, head of the Mitk think-tank, said. `The
authorities were very complacent as they thought his ratings were low,
given that his party won only five per cent in the parliamentary
election in May last year.'
Hovhannisyan certainly sees himself as a unifying figure.
`There are no party flags here, there is no Heritage, Dashnaktsutyun,
or Armenian National Congress. We all understand that this isn't a
party political fight, but a campaign to get ordinary Armenians to
return from abroad, for the children to come back to their homeland,'
he said.
Hovhannisyan won outright in only one of Armenia's 11 administrative
regions, Shirak, but he performed well in many towns across the
country. That trend could be a headache for Sargsyan in future
elections.
Levon Barseghyan, head of the Gyumri Press Club, said that most voters
in Shirak's rural areas voted overwhelmingly for Sargsyan, so
Hovhannisyan's overall victory in the region was thanks to the urban
electorate in Gyumri, Maralik and Artik.
In Gyumri, the region's main town, he won nearly 43,000 votes to
Sargsyan's 17,000.
`People voted for Raffi because the situation in the region is dire,
and there's a section of society with nothing to lose but its votes,'
Barseghyan said.
Hovhannisyan also won in Vanadzor, the third-largest city in Armenia
after Yerevan and Gyumri.
Despite winning Kapan, the main town of the southern region of Syunik,
Hovhannisyan lost overall there. On a visit to the region, he called
for the dismissal of regional governor Suren Khachatryan and used
meetings with the mayors of Meghri and Kajaran to accuse them of
rigging the election results against him.
In Gyumri, Hovhannisyan's post-election tour drew a crowd of 5,000 or
6,000. While a smaller number - some 2,000 - took to the streets in
Vanadzor, locals said that was bigger than any demonstration in many
years.
Hovhannisyan dismisses criticisms that he has imported American-style
campaign methods.
`There is nothing to be ashamed about in greeting people and receiving
a greeting in return. That isn't some western technique, but an
ordinary Armenian greeting, which carries great power,' he said.
Stepa Safaryan, a political analyst with Hovhannisyan's Heritage
Party, said this post-election tour was unprecedented, and marked the
launch of a sustained campaign for the election result to be annulled.
`The people are calling on Hovhannisyan not to take a single step
backwards. He made a deal with the people and as he's said, he will
not allow history to be re-edited,' Safaryan said. `These visits are
an inauguration, the sealing of a compact between a citizen and his
electorate.'
President Sargsyan's allies do not seem unduly shaken by Hovhanisyan's campaign.
`Everyone is surprised that Hovhannisyan got so many votes. He
probably surprised himself,' said Hovik Abrahamyan, the speaker of
parliament.
Manvel Sargsyan, head of analysis at the Armenian Centre for National
and International Studies, wondered whether the ruling elite was being
too complacent about what seemed a genuinely new trend in various
parts of the country.
`This is the first time the population has displayed so much energy
not just on election day, but after the polls as well,' he said.
Gayane Lazarian is a reporter for Armenianow.com.
http://iwpr.net/report-news/armenia-opposition-candidate-campaigns-annul-election
IWPR Caucasus Reporting #678
March 2 2013
Armenia: Opposition Candidate Campaigns to Annul Election
Raffi Hovhannisyan did better than expected, but insists he was robbed
of victory.
By Arpi Beglaryan - Caucasus
CRS Issue 678, 2 Mar 13
Raffi Hovhannisyan, defeated in Armenia's presidential election, has
been touring the country, telling supporters he is the real victor, as
part of a campaign to get the results overturned and a fresh balllot
held..
The United States-born politician's tour of the country, in which he
has made a point of stopping to chat with members of the public, has
been dubbed the `Barevolution' - from the Armenian word `barev',
meaning `hi'.
Official results from the February 18 ballot show that the incumbent
president Serzh Sargsyan won easily with 58.7 per cent. But
Hovhannisyan's unexpectedly high score of 36.7 per cent has galvanised
his supporters and emboldened him to allege openly that the vote was
rigged. (See Armenia: Presidential Challenger Rejects Poll Result..)
Hovhannisyan is head of the Heritage Party, a small opposition party,
but he appears to have become the focus for anti-Sargsyan feeling once
the major opposition forces boycotted the poll.
There is wide popular dissatisfaction about poverty, the sluggish
economy, and the number of people forced to emigrate to find work.
`Hovhannisyan became de facto the unifying candidate for the
opposition,' Yervand Borzoyan, head of the Mitk think-tank, said. `The
authorities were very complacent as they thought his ratings were low,
given that his party won only five per cent in the parliamentary
election in May last year.'
Hovhannisyan certainly sees himself as a unifying figure.
`There are no party flags here, there is no Heritage, Dashnaktsutyun,
or Armenian National Congress. We all understand that this isn't a
party political fight, but a campaign to get ordinary Armenians to
return from abroad, for the children to come back to their homeland,'
he said.
Hovhannisyan won outright in only one of Armenia's 11 administrative
regions, Shirak, but he performed well in many towns across the
country. That trend could be a headache for Sargsyan in future
elections.
Levon Barseghyan, head of the Gyumri Press Club, said that most voters
in Shirak's rural areas voted overwhelmingly for Sargsyan, so
Hovhannisyan's overall victory in the region was thanks to the urban
electorate in Gyumri, Maralik and Artik.
In Gyumri, the region's main town, he won nearly 43,000 votes to
Sargsyan's 17,000.
`People voted for Raffi because the situation in the region is dire,
and there's a section of society with nothing to lose but its votes,'
Barseghyan said.
Hovhannisyan also won in Vanadzor, the third-largest city in Armenia
after Yerevan and Gyumri.
Despite winning Kapan, the main town of the southern region of Syunik,
Hovhannisyan lost overall there. On a visit to the region, he called
for the dismissal of regional governor Suren Khachatryan and used
meetings with the mayors of Meghri and Kajaran to accuse them of
rigging the election results against him.
In Gyumri, Hovhannisyan's post-election tour drew a crowd of 5,000 or
6,000. While a smaller number - some 2,000 - took to the streets in
Vanadzor, locals said that was bigger than any demonstration in many
years.
Hovhannisyan dismisses criticisms that he has imported American-style
campaign methods.
`There is nothing to be ashamed about in greeting people and receiving
a greeting in return. That isn't some western technique, but an
ordinary Armenian greeting, which carries great power,' he said.
Stepa Safaryan, a political analyst with Hovhannisyan's Heritage
Party, said this post-election tour was unprecedented, and marked the
launch of a sustained campaign for the election result to be annulled.
`The people are calling on Hovhannisyan not to take a single step
backwards. He made a deal with the people and as he's said, he will
not allow history to be re-edited,' Safaryan said. `These visits are
an inauguration, the sealing of a compact between a citizen and his
electorate.'
President Sargsyan's allies do not seem unduly shaken by Hovhanisyan's campaign.
`Everyone is surprised that Hovhannisyan got so many votes. He
probably surprised himself,' said Hovik Abrahamyan, the speaker of
parliament.
Manvel Sargsyan, head of analysis at the Armenian Centre for National
and International Studies, wondered whether the ruling elite was being
too complacent about what seemed a genuinely new trend in various
parts of the country.
`This is the first time the population has displayed so much energy
not just on election day, but after the polls as well,' he said.
Gayane Lazarian is a reporter for Armenianow.com.
http://iwpr.net/report-news/armenia-opposition-candidate-campaigns-annul-election