How Much for an MP’s Seat? Mock Auction Offers Government Posts for Sale

In a downtown Yerevan park this past Saturday, 48-year-old Vakhtang Siradeghian was struggling with a weighty decision: should he buy a seat in parliament or not? Siradeghian’s decision was part of an extensive May 5 vote-buying spoof staged by several non-government organizations to encourage voters to speak out against what they term is a rampant culture of corruption that could undermine Armenia’s May 12 parliamentary election.

“This is a small model of our reality,” commented Amalia Kostanian, the acting executive director of the Center for Regional Development/Transparency International Armenia, which organized the event with the Helsinki Association of Armenia, the It’s Started (Sksel a) youth group, Gyumri’s Asparez Journalists Club and the Vanadzor branch of the Helsinki Citizens Assembly.

“We conduct monitoring and, of course, we register all the electoral violations and displays of corruption that exist,” Kostanian continued. “However, with this [event], we want to laugh at ourselves and to struggle against election corruption. People must also understand that they are responsible for their country.”

Those willing to sell their votes at park booths received fake dollar bills with which they could buy government posts, a seat in parliament, or a business monopoly.

At one booth, purchasers haggled over senior government posts. The prices were not cheap: the post of prime minister went for $5 million, a government minister’s post for $3 million and a deputy minister’s post for $1 million.

Balloons representing seeds, potatoes, eyeglasses and mobile phones were also given away to duplicate campaign handouts made to voters by some political parties.

The reaction from on-lookers was mixed, however. Policemen patrolling the park kept a wary eye on the proceedings, while some passers-by looked on in surprise. “They’re crazy!” exclaimed one elderly man.

The head of Armenia’s largest election observation group, though, argues that having people understand the event’s message is just a matter of time. “Gradually, people will learn to defend their rights,” said It’s Your Choice President Harutyun Hambartsumian.

Political parties and the government were not the only targets for satire, though. One man in a bright cap called for bids on an NGO, which “eats a lot of grant money without doing any work.”

Scientists wiling to compromise their studies’ findings, a smiling singer and an athlete were also put up for sale. The auction of the athlete, described as “a grand master,” was interpreted by many fair attendees as a thinly disguised reference to a March 2007 statement of support by a group of chess players for the ruling Republican Party of Armenia in which the players stated that then Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian, president of the Armenian Chess Federation and at the time a senior member of the Republican Party of Armenia, had contributed to their win of the 2006 Chess Olympiad.

Though billed as a non-partisan event, the auction’s tone was critical toward both the ruling Republican Party of Armenia and Prosperous Armenia Party, recently deemed by one pollster as the campaign’s “heavyweights.” [For details, see the Eurasia Insight archive.]

Auction organizers decided to “donate” the event’s make-believe proceeds – “millions of dollars” – to both parties to help correct their alleged “serious problems” with staging rallies and gaining media exposure. In reality, the two parties are arguably the campaign’s best-financed contenders, with regular celebrity concerts and heavy media coverage. [For details, see the Eurasia Insight archive.]

Though reportedly invited, representatives of Prosperous Armenia Party, the Republican Party, and fellow coalition members the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and the United Labor Party were not known to have attended the event. Republican Party leader Prime Minister Sarkisian has repeatedly stressed that his party and the government are working for a free and fair election, and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation has stated that it will enter the opposition if a democratic vote is not held.

Event organizer Avetik Ishkhanian, president of the Armenia Helsinki Association, still sees room for improvement, however. “These [election] falsifications began in the previous elections and continue up to this day,” Ishkhanian said. “Moreover, now they have begun to use KGB methods, eavesdropping on people and intimidating everyone. If the opposition doesn’t win in any elections, then, in that case, it is improper to speak about fair elections.”

Added Helsinki Citizens Assembly - Vanadzor Chairman Artur Sakunts: ”Such events can convince people that it is possible to publicly express opinions about [election] violations, speak against the atmosphere of fear, against different administrative resources.”

That argument has one supporter in virtual-vote buyer Siradeghian. The Transparency International media specialist finally opted to not buy a seat in parliament with his purchased vote.

“If a person is ready to sell his conscience,” he explained, “then this conscience can only be taken to the garbage dump.”

Editor’s Note: Marianna Grigoryan is a reporter for the independent online weekly ArmeniaNow in Yerevan.