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Under What Influence Did the OSCE Observers Draw up the Report on the
Presidential Election in Armenia?
May 13 2013
The OSCE/ODIHR observation mission monitoring the 2013 presidential
election in Armenia has published its final report on the election.
The document mentions the election campaign and states that
fundamental freedoms were generally respected, and all contestants
could campaign without hindrance, but the OSCE/ODIHR observers noticed
abuse of power and administrative resources to the incumbent
president's advantage. www.aravot.am inquired of Aram Harutyunyan, a
former candidate for president, whether he agreed with the ideas
expressed in the report and how he would describe the report. He
basically said the following: `The observers must have been drunk too
much and mixed up everything, since I also said during a meeting with
them that it was a disgraceful situation, there were pressures,
coverage was not good, the facts put forward were distorted. I don't
know what influence they were under when they said such a thing. They
want our government to be weak. I told them too that political
interests underlay every statement of theirs. On the other hand, if we
look into it, we will see that everything that enters Armenia gets
spoiled, including Europeans. The current government is to blame for
that. The sooner we get rid of it, the better it will be for Armenia
and our people.'
Arman Melikyan, a former candidate for president, in his turn, said:
`Wherever there is abuse of power and administrative resources to the
incumbent present's advantage, it is not logical to state that
fundamental freedoms were generally respected, and all contestants had
equal opportunities to carry out an election campaign. I can
understand the willingness of the authors of the report to distort the
real picture, and in that context, their skillfulness in selective and
targeted use of facts and information gives esthetic pleasure.
However, being more or less aware of what happened, I cannot share
many claims made in the report. Firstly, I cannot help but notice that
many facts are not mentioned in the report.' Hovsep Khurshudyan, the
press secretary of the Heritage Party, noted that the report was very
moderate and didn't reflect the reality that the current government
had seized power. `I can just assume that the support that was shown
to the government by this report has geopolitical context. At the end
of the day, support is continuously shown to the government by such
moderate statements. Certainly, the theses that reflect the vicious
realities are agreeable, but we generally think that it is too
moderate a report and generally doesn't reflect what happened on
February 18.'
Andrias Ghukasyan, a former candidate for president, thinks that the
report really aimed at serving Serzh Sargsyan's legitimization. `There
is no mention in the report that citizens of the Republic of Armenia
and political forces have raised the issue of rigged elections. No
mention is made of the fact that obvious political processes transpire
in Armenia instead of elections. Also, the idea that fundamental
freedoms were respected is false, since those who drew up the report
contradict themselves. If it is mentioned that the government used
pressure, what respect for fundamental freedoms can one talk about? It
is understandable that this sentence was just included in the report,
so that it can be used as a cliché, since it contradicts all the
conclusions drawn in the report.' Continuing, A. Ghukasyan stated: `It
turns out that the OSCE advises the ruling party not to commit crimes
in the Republic of Armenia, since political pressure and bribing
during elections are punishable by law. Although it was obvious that
the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) used election bribery, observers
tried their best not to notice it. This makes one think that observers
bear no responsibility, and since they communicate with the criminal
regime, there is no guarantee that this kind of observation missions
will do proper work, and the OSCE will not ruin its reputation as an
organization protecting human rights.'
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
Read more at: http://en.aravot.am/2013/05/13/154264/
© 1998 - 2013 Aravot - News from Armenia
Presidential Election in Armenia?
May 13 2013
The OSCE/ODIHR observation mission monitoring the 2013 presidential
election in Armenia has published its final report on the election.
The document mentions the election campaign and states that
fundamental freedoms were generally respected, and all contestants
could campaign without hindrance, but the OSCE/ODIHR observers noticed
abuse of power and administrative resources to the incumbent
president's advantage. www.aravot.am inquired of Aram Harutyunyan, a
former candidate for president, whether he agreed with the ideas
expressed in the report and how he would describe the report. He
basically said the following: `The observers must have been drunk too
much and mixed up everything, since I also said during a meeting with
them that it was a disgraceful situation, there were pressures,
coverage was not good, the facts put forward were distorted. I don't
know what influence they were under when they said such a thing. They
want our government to be weak. I told them too that political
interests underlay every statement of theirs. On the other hand, if we
look into it, we will see that everything that enters Armenia gets
spoiled, including Europeans. The current government is to blame for
that. The sooner we get rid of it, the better it will be for Armenia
and our people.'
Arman Melikyan, a former candidate for president, in his turn, said:
`Wherever there is abuse of power and administrative resources to the
incumbent present's advantage, it is not logical to state that
fundamental freedoms were generally respected, and all contestants had
equal opportunities to carry out an election campaign. I can
understand the willingness of the authors of the report to distort the
real picture, and in that context, their skillfulness in selective and
targeted use of facts and information gives esthetic pleasure.
However, being more or less aware of what happened, I cannot share
many claims made in the report. Firstly, I cannot help but notice that
many facts are not mentioned in the report.' Hovsep Khurshudyan, the
press secretary of the Heritage Party, noted that the report was very
moderate and didn't reflect the reality that the current government
had seized power. `I can just assume that the support that was shown
to the government by this report has geopolitical context. At the end
of the day, support is continuously shown to the government by such
moderate statements. Certainly, the theses that reflect the vicious
realities are agreeable, but we generally think that it is too
moderate a report and generally doesn't reflect what happened on
February 18.'
Andrias Ghukasyan, a former candidate for president, thinks that the
report really aimed at serving Serzh Sargsyan's legitimization. `There
is no mention in the report that citizens of the Republic of Armenia
and political forces have raised the issue of rigged elections. No
mention is made of the fact that obvious political processes transpire
in Armenia instead of elections. Also, the idea that fundamental
freedoms were respected is false, since those who drew up the report
contradict themselves. If it is mentioned that the government used
pressure, what respect for fundamental freedoms can one talk about? It
is understandable that this sentence was just included in the report,
so that it can be used as a cliché, since it contradicts all the
conclusions drawn in the report.' Continuing, A. Ghukasyan stated: `It
turns out that the OSCE advises the ruling party not to commit crimes
in the Republic of Armenia, since political pressure and bribing
during elections are punishable by law. Although it was obvious that
the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) used election bribery, observers
tried their best not to notice it. This makes one think that observers
bear no responsibility, and since they communicate with the criminal
regime, there is no guarantee that this kind of observation missions
will do proper work, and the OSCE will not ruin its reputation as an
organization protecting human rights.'
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
Read more at: http://en.aravot.am/2013/05/13/154264/
© 1998 - 2013 Aravot - News from Armenia