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Significance of Vote
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What is the importance of the May 12, 2007 parliamentary elections for Armenia?
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None of Armenia's post-Soviet elections have been recognized as free and fair by the international community. The parliamentary vote is being termed a litmus test for the country's commitment to democratic development. The United States has indicated that Armenia's $235 million Millennium Challenge assistance program could be contingent on the election's conduct; the European Union has warned that a botched vote could jeopardize closer ties with Armenia.
At the same time, the elections are seen as carrying political significance for the future as well. The outcome of the vote is expected to largely determine who will be among the candidates for president in 2008.
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The Race in Numbers
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How many political parties and candidates are taking part in the elections? Which party has the most candidates? The least?
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There are 22 political parties and one political bloc ("Impeachment") registered to participate in the elections. One hundred and nineteen individual candidates are running for the 41 seats elected by first-past-the-post votes. The Republican Party of Armenia is running the most candidates for single-mandate seats - 26 candidates. For the 90 seats elected by proportional voting, the opposition Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) Party led by former Parliamentary Speaker Artur Baghdasarian has the longest list of candidates at 118. The shortest list of candidates to be elected by proportional voting - 9 individuals -- was submitted by the Marxist Party of Armenia.
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Parliament Membership
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How many deputies will there be in the new parliament?
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The parliament elected on May 12 will be made up of 131 deputies - 90 seats are elected by proportional voting and 41 seats are elected from first-past-the-post constituencies. Parties which fail to win at least 5 percent of the vote are not allotted seats from the proportional-vote pool. Compared with the 2003 election, the 2007 parliament has 15 additional seats elected by proportional voting, and 15 fewer single-mandate seats. The increased number of proportional seats, a reform enacted after the 2003 elections, was originally intended to prevent rampant vote-buying, but its effects have not yet been seen.
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Candidate Eligibility
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What is required to run for parliament?
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Any person with the right to vote who is at least 25 years old, and has held Armenian citizenship and been a permanent resident of Armenia for the preceding five years, may be registered as a candidate. Parties and blocs must pay a 2.5 million dram (roughly $7,000) deposit to the Central Election Commission to have their list of candidates registered for election by proportional voting. (The payment is meant to discourage frivolous candidacies.) Property and income statements for all of the candidates must also be submitted. Candidates running for election in first-past-the-post districts must submit the same documents and pay a 1 million dram (roughly $2,750) deposit.
Those parties and blocs which fail to receive at least 5 percent of the vote to take seats in
parliament and those individual candidates which are not elected in single-mandate constituencies cannot reclaim their deposits. The funds are instead transfered to the state budget.
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Campaign Finance
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What are the limits placed on campaign expenditures?
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The election code stipulates that a political party or bloc cannot spend more than 60 million drams (about $167,131) during the campaign. Candidates in single-mandate constituencies are limited to 5 million drams (about $13,927). In reality, though, campaign finance is a fuzzy area. Much controversy surrounds the use of gifts-in-kind - free bus rides, offers of road repairs, etc. - by individual candidates or charitable organizations separate from the party. The pro-government Prosperous Armenia Party, whose head, tycoon Gagik Tsarukian, ran an aggressive charity campaign during the pre-election period, has attracted the most attention in this regard.
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