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Garbis: After the Elections
By Christian Garbis // Posted on May 14,
Now that the dust has settled it's time to reflect upon the Yerevan
municipal elections as an attempt to understand what unfolded and what
went wrong.
Diasporan repatriate Babken Der Grigorian documents two people
approaching the voting booth together. (Photo by Eric Grigorian)
The elections held on May 5 did not by any means stand apart from any
other recent election in terms of lack of transparency and abundant
fraud.
According to the Central Electoral Commission, the Republican Party of
Armenia unsurprisingly came out on top with 55.9 percent of the vote.
Its incumbent mayor, Taron Markaryan, is expected to remain in office.
The Prosperous Armenia Party, whose candidate was Vartan Oskanyan,
came in a distant second place, earning 23 percent, while the Barev
Yerevan block initiated by Raffi Hovannisian won 8.5 percent. All
other parties were shut out. Forty-two seats on the Council of Elders
will be occupied by Republicans, while Prosperous Armenia will have 17
and Barev Yerevan 6. Since the latter two are in the minority, they
will not be able to block controversial decisions or have their own
passed without Republican support.
The usual shenanigans attributed to the ruling party were
reported - bribing, ballot stuffing, voting in place of an absentee,
assisting the elderly with how to vote, inaccurate ballot tallies, and
the list goes on. One can just imagine what went on behind closed
doors at the Central Electoral Commission in the evening. There's no
way of knowing just how credible the official results are.
iDitord.org, a site where election violations can be recorded from
anywhere using a mobile device, registered 417 cases.
Yet despite the allegations of fraud, the human rights defender, Karen
Andreasyan, received only 19 complaints of violations and concluded
that the elections were `competitive and free.'
Another 160 complaints recorded in the districts of Malatia-Sebastia,
Shengavit, and Erebuni-Nubarashen were tossed out of court by the
Electoral Commission during hearings that were held on May 8. None of
them were even reviewed.
The notion of whether bribe-taking in some form is justifiable opens
the doors for debate. Naturally, bribing is an unacceptable practice.
But let's consider what senior citizens face living on a 20,000-dram
monthly pension (about $50 at the current exchange rate of 406 dram to
the dollar). A standard bribe of 5,000 dram buys them a week-long
supply of cheese, priced at an average cost of 2,500 dram per kilo; a
kilo or two of potatoes; some greens; bread; and, to splurge, a bottle
of cheap domestic vodka (which incidentally also serves as excellent
window cleaner). I am hard pressed to fault them for giving in to
temptation.
Others justify taking the bribe by reasoning that they can vote for
the candidate of their choice anyway. `They're handing out money, why
shouldn't I take it?' is also a popular rationale for reaping some
extra pocket money. They have resigned themselves to the widely
accepted norm that the authorities will hold on to power no matter
what. So why not make a few bucks in the process?
The people have essentially spoken during the election season. They
allowed the corrupt practices during the voting process to fester, and
they shamelessly took advantage of whatever favors were offered.
People in both opposition and pro-government camps permitted the vote
to be falsified three separate times within the timespan of a year.
Despite the complaining and whining about how the government is
ineffective and generally ignores the plight of the majority of
Armenians, citizens allowed the Republican Party to retain its
ironclad grip on virtually all branches of government. Nine out of
Armenia's 10 regions are currently led by Republican governors.
Former Foreign Minister Alexander Arzoumanian believes that the people
will eventually force the government to resign through popular
activism in the not-so-distant future after finally reaching the
breaking point. He thinks that anticipated change will not unfold in
another election, but long before. If he turns out to be right, it
will be a great day for Armenia.
But the Armenian Diaspora must push for that activism to bear fruit.
With all the activists we have around the world advocating for
genocide recognition, imagine what could be accomplished in Armenia if
they only inculcated their disillusioned compatriots in the homeland
with their expertise and insight. Instead, we have a disillusioned
public going through the motions of casting their ballots or not
giving a damn, choosing to boycott the vote or profit from it. This
destructive cycle will only repeat unless Armenian citizens willingly
put an end to the falsifications and intimidation that dictate the
outcome of the vote - unless they finally decide to take control of
their own destinies and put an end to their persecution. It's up to
all of us.
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2013/05/14/garbis-after-the-elections/
By Christian Garbis // Posted on May 14,
Now that the dust has settled it's time to reflect upon the Yerevan
municipal elections as an attempt to understand what unfolded and what
went wrong.
Diasporan repatriate Babken Der Grigorian documents two people
approaching the voting booth together. (Photo by Eric Grigorian)
The elections held on May 5 did not by any means stand apart from any
other recent election in terms of lack of transparency and abundant
fraud.
According to the Central Electoral Commission, the Republican Party of
Armenia unsurprisingly came out on top with 55.9 percent of the vote.
Its incumbent mayor, Taron Markaryan, is expected to remain in office.
The Prosperous Armenia Party, whose candidate was Vartan Oskanyan,
came in a distant second place, earning 23 percent, while the Barev
Yerevan block initiated by Raffi Hovannisian won 8.5 percent. All
other parties were shut out. Forty-two seats on the Council of Elders
will be occupied by Republicans, while Prosperous Armenia will have 17
and Barev Yerevan 6. Since the latter two are in the minority, they
will not be able to block controversial decisions or have their own
passed without Republican support.
The usual shenanigans attributed to the ruling party were
reported - bribing, ballot stuffing, voting in place of an absentee,
assisting the elderly with how to vote, inaccurate ballot tallies, and
the list goes on. One can just imagine what went on behind closed
doors at the Central Electoral Commission in the evening. There's no
way of knowing just how credible the official results are.
iDitord.org, a site where election violations can be recorded from
anywhere using a mobile device, registered 417 cases.
Yet despite the allegations of fraud, the human rights defender, Karen
Andreasyan, received only 19 complaints of violations and concluded
that the elections were `competitive and free.'
Another 160 complaints recorded in the districts of Malatia-Sebastia,
Shengavit, and Erebuni-Nubarashen were tossed out of court by the
Electoral Commission during hearings that were held on May 8. None of
them were even reviewed.
The notion of whether bribe-taking in some form is justifiable opens
the doors for debate. Naturally, bribing is an unacceptable practice.
But let's consider what senior citizens face living on a 20,000-dram
monthly pension (about $50 at the current exchange rate of 406 dram to
the dollar). A standard bribe of 5,000 dram buys them a week-long
supply of cheese, priced at an average cost of 2,500 dram per kilo; a
kilo or two of potatoes; some greens; bread; and, to splurge, a bottle
of cheap domestic vodka (which incidentally also serves as excellent
window cleaner). I am hard pressed to fault them for giving in to
temptation.
Others justify taking the bribe by reasoning that they can vote for
the candidate of their choice anyway. `They're handing out money, why
shouldn't I take it?' is also a popular rationale for reaping some
extra pocket money. They have resigned themselves to the widely
accepted norm that the authorities will hold on to power no matter
what. So why not make a few bucks in the process?
The people have essentially spoken during the election season. They
allowed the corrupt practices during the voting process to fester, and
they shamelessly took advantage of whatever favors were offered.
People in both opposition and pro-government camps permitted the vote
to be falsified three separate times within the timespan of a year.
Despite the complaining and whining about how the government is
ineffective and generally ignores the plight of the majority of
Armenians, citizens allowed the Republican Party to retain its
ironclad grip on virtually all branches of government. Nine out of
Armenia's 10 regions are currently led by Republican governors.
Former Foreign Minister Alexander Arzoumanian believes that the people
will eventually force the government to resign through popular
activism in the not-so-distant future after finally reaching the
breaking point. He thinks that anticipated change will not unfold in
another election, but long before. If he turns out to be right, it
will be a great day for Armenia.
But the Armenian Diaspora must push for that activism to bear fruit.
With all the activists we have around the world advocating for
genocide recognition, imagine what could be accomplished in Armenia if
they only inculcated their disillusioned compatriots in the homeland
with their expertise and insight. Instead, we have a disillusioned
public going through the motions of casting their ballots or not
giving a damn, choosing to boycott the vote or profit from it. This
destructive cycle will only repeat unless Armenian citizens willingly
put an end to the falsifications and intimidation that dictate the
outcome of the vote - unless they finally decide to take control of
their own destinies and put an end to their persecution. It's up to
all of us.
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2013/05/14/garbis-after-the-elections/