Amidst varied reports of voting irregularities, parliamentary elections widely seen as a test of democracy for Armenia ended calmly on May 12. The government has hailed the vote as confirmation of its earlier predictions that a fair and free vote would be held. Meanwhile, opposition parties are still considering their next move.

After voting ended at 8pm local time, a public television news presenter called the elections perhaps the best ever held since the 1991 declaration of Armenia’s independence.

A similar view was expressed in the morning by Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian, chairman of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, as he cast his ballot in downtown Yerevan.

“I would wish very much that the elections be the best in Armenia’s history, both for our people and numerous observers,” he said.

“Everything is proceeding well and if today’s electoral process corresponds with the general pre-election process, then we will have a good evaluation from international observers,” Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian predicted after voting.

Preliminary evaluations from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which has the largest international election observation team on site, are expected on May 13. The Central Election Commission is expected to publish preliminary results for the vote by 8 pm local time the same day.

Local political analysts have deemed the results to be a key indicator of the likely alignment of political forces for the 2008 presidential elections. President Robert Kocharian, however, does not agree.

“[A]fter the [2005] constitutional reforms, to what extent will a president with no serious support in parliament be a real figure and head [of state]?” Kocharian said after casting his ballot. “ If there is strong support from the parliamentary majority, we will have a strong president. If there is no such support, then he will be a formal figure in a way.”

Deputy Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairman Abram Bakhchagulian announced late on May 12 that preliminary data from 15 constituencies showed the ruling Republican Party of Armenia in the lead with 1,016 votes, oustripping by more than a factor of ten the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, a junior government coalition partner. The pro-government Prosperous Armenia Party trailed slightly behind the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, with the opposition Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) Party in fourth place, with 51 votes, local news agencies reported.

The CEC has reported a voter turnout figure of 59.4 percent of Armenia’s 2,285, 830 voters, more than nine percentage points higher than during the 2003 parliamentary elections.

Predictions of a high voter turnout had earlier been made by Prime Minister Sarkisian:
“Because we all have run a good election campaign,” he told reporters.

However, some local observers and opposition party representatives argue that the high turnout is also the result of “good work” on election day.

Public transportation was in short supply in Yerevan on Saturday morning; the minibuses that usually fill downtown streets were not to be seen. Meanwhile, vans and buses, and sometimes also taxis, could be seen near polling stations to which opposition members and local observers claim they took voters.

At polling station 12/26 in the Yerevan district of Noragvit, former Armenian ombudswoman Larisa Alaverdian told EurasiaNet that voters had been brought in on buses and minibuses to vote, and given green pens to use in marking their ballots for the Republican Party. Alaverdian was a candidate for proportional election for the opposition Heritage Party.

Speaking on television, CEC representatives have so far skeptically assessed frequent reports about special color pens, inaccurate voter lists, carousel voting, and ballot box stuffing.

“People can vote with pens of the color they want,” Deputy CEC Chairman Bakhchagulian commented on television in response to such reports. The Armenian ombudsman’s office had received 30 complaints about voting irregularities – chiefly to do with voter lists – one hour before the polls closed at 8pm, the news agency PanArmenian.Net reported.

Outright vote buying was another frequent charge made by opposition members and local election observers – with blame usually placed on the Republican Party of Armenia and, in some cases, also the pro-government Prosperous Armenia Party, considered the Republican Party’s chief rival.

Some local observers claim that the purchase of votes -- with amounts varying from $5 to $20 in dram -- occurred even outside polling stations.

“There were numerous cases of election bribes, intimidations,” Helsinki Association Chairman Avetik Ishkhanian told EurasiaNet.

In the town of Vanadzor, 125 kilometers to the north of Yerevan, Artur Sakunts, head of the town’s branch of the Helsinki Assembly, reports that 2,000 dram (about $5.61) to 4,000 dram (about $11.21) were regularly offered for votes. “Here, the voters themselves are direct participants and encourage political corruption,” he noted. “Of course, this is because of their low living standards, when a person needs 2,000 to 4,000 drams.”

For now, though, Ishkhanian and other observers are reserving final judgement. “[W]e had worse expectations,” Ishkhanian said. “[I]t is not clear yet whether there will be violations after the polling stations close [and the vote counting begins], like it happened during the last elections.”

The Republican Party of Armenia has dismissed allegations that its members were involved in such vote-buying schemes. Prosperous Armenia echoes the denials, and argues that the elections went “well.”

“The elections proceeded normally except for a few minor violations, voter list inaccuracies and local violations, although I don’t think that they will impact the outcome of the elections,” Prosperous Armenia Party spokesperson Baghdasar Mherian said.

Other key political parties, both pro-government (The Armenian Revolutionary Federation) and opposition (National Democratic Party, National Unity Party, People’s Party of Armenia, Orinats Yerkir Party), have been less forthcoming about the elections’ conduct, telling EurasiaNet that they would make statements after the publication of the preliminary results on May 13.

The hardline opposition coalition made up of the Republic Party, New Times Party and Impeachment election bloc have already announced plans for a public demonstration on Sunday in Yerevan against alleged widespread election violations.

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