Press Review May 18-20, 1999

Dailies reported on statements made in a May 17 press conference by two leading members of the National Democratic Union (NDU), Shavarsh Kocharyan and Vahe Varsanyan (who represents the Party in the Central Electoral Commission, CEC). They criticized a CEC decision that allows citizens to vote in the precinct of their temporary residence. Vahe Varsanyan complained that the current CEC’s quality of work is much worse than the previous CEC’s. He also accused some parties of "selling" their seats in the Electoral Commissions. He explained that some parties, namely the Union of Self-Determination and the Fatherland Bloc, have been paid to support pro-government candidates in those electoral districts where their parties have no candidates. As a result, the ROA Government gets not just its three votes as provided for in the Electoral Code but in some cases becomes the majority. However, as some reporters noted no proof of the allegations was presented by the spokesmen. Reporters were provided with copies of a "Methodological Manual for Proxies and Members of the Electoral Commissions." The Manual was published jointly with the Communist Party of Armenia and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and it summarizes the patterns and mechanisms of vote infringements that have taken place during previous elections in Armenia.

The dailies reported on Hayk Baboukhanyan's press conference held on May 18; Baboukhanyan is one of the leaders of the Law and Unity Bloc and Editor-in-Chief of the popular Iravunk weekly, the official organ of the Union for Constitutional Rights Party. Baboukhanyan said that the electorate is becoming more and more polarized and that the main struggle will occur between the Law and Unity and Unity Blocs. The former represents an opposition that wants to carry out a "moral revolution" that will change the method of governance and that will purge the government of those individuals with connections to the previous (HHSh) regime. The Unity Bloc is now openly supported by the government and although it also wants a civilized, democratic and prosperous Armenia, the Bloc will try to preserve existing methods and structures of government. Baboukhanyan also explained that the Communist Party's ratings have increased because Karen Demirchyan supporters are disappointed with his affiliation with the Republican Party and Defense Minister Vazken Sarkissyan. According to Baboukhanyan, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun is losing supporters because of its affiliation with President Kocharyan. Baboukhanyan was very positive about the fact that 47 journalists are running for Parliament seats.

Khachatour Soukiassyan (popularly known as the elder son of Grzo – the nickname given his father who was an illegal businessman in Soviet times) is one of Armenia’s richest businessmen and is running as an independent candidate in Electoral District 12. He sees serious threats to business in Armenia because laws are drafted by people having no or little practical experience in business. Soukiassyan's approach would have NA Members filtering and polishing legislative drafts "written in appropriate institutions," but he does not specify which ones. He said that he will deny any offer to become a member of government. Responding to questions about why there are so many people in his electoral headquarters who were previously, and even currently, affiliated with the former ruling party (the Armenian National Movement, HHSh) including Tigran Hakobyan, head of his campaign headquarters and former editor-in-chief of Hayk, the HHSh’s official newspaper, Soukiassyan said that he has chosen members of his headquarters based on their professionalism, rather than ideology. Soukiassyan is a longtime ally of HHSh Chairman Vano Siradeghyan.

In a May 18 press conference, Aram Sargssyan, Chairman of the Democratic Party and Advisor to President Kocharyan, warned that the campaign for majoritarian votes is creating serious concerns for his Party. "The situation in the majoritarian electoral districts is much worse than can be imagined," said Aram Sargssyan. Together with bribing the electorate, criminal and neighborhood authorities are simply threatening some candidates, as is occurring in Electoral District 22 in Yerevan where the Democratic Party's candidate is Karine Danielyan, the Party's Vice-Chairman. Sargssyan said that it should be understood that the Party can protect its candidates' interests legally and that he had already done so in the Electoral District 25 in Yerevan where he is a candidate. Speaking about the future Parliament, Sargssyan said that in his opinion no one party will gain an absolute majority and that the Parliament will be left-centered and that a new left-centered coalition will be formed.

May 19 issues of the dailies widely commented on a press conference held by the Powerful Homeland Party’s leaders on May 18.. Vardan Vardapetyan, leader of the party and Vice-Mayor of Yerevan (now temporarily on leave of absence), said that the Party is a right-centered liberal organization with 7,000 members and that it is organized in all marzes of Armenia. The Party's motto is "a good homeland is a powerful homeland" and its campaign strategy is "do not discredit other parties and blocs, only present ourselves." If the party is elected, it will cooperate with those political forces in the Parliament that are realistic (i.e., that do not demand immediate changes) and will promote the development of small and medium businesses. Vardapetyan explained that Powerful Homeland is not a pro-governmental party but instead a pro-statehood party.

Hayastani Hanrapetityun, Hayots Ashkhar, Oragir and Zhamanak reported on the May 18 meeting of the Central Election Commission (CEC). OSCE monitors who are in Armenia to monitor the elections attended and presented the OSCE’s "Guide for Regional Election Commissions." Prior to the meeting three members of CEC together with OSCE experts studied the Guide to check it against Armenian legislation. After discussions, the CEC voted in favor of using the Guide in Regional Electoral Commissions. Artak Sahradyan, CEC Chairman, responded to accusations made by Vahe Varsanyan (CEC member from the National Democratic Union) made a day earlier where he claimed that the quality of work of the current CEC is much lower than the level of its predecessor. Sahradyan labeled these accusations as groundless and called for mutual tolerance among the CEC members. Varsanyan confirmed his accusations and demanded that they be discussed, but his proposal was voted down. The CEC adopted seven decisions of which four were related to protocol forms and one was on the correction of spelling errors in the names and other data voter registration lists.

Hayastani Hanrapetutiun, Azg and Hayots Ashkhar reported on the May 19 meeting of the Political Council, a political advisory board established in 1998 by ROA President Robert Kocharyan. The Council is currently comprised of parties that supported President Kocharyan during the 1998 Presidential elections. The meeting was chaired by President Kocharyan and the main topic was the current campaign. It was mentioned that as a whole the campaign is going normally without serious violations and that the state-owned press is impartially reporting on the campaign. The participants of the meeting expressed their desire to carry out free and fair elections. President Kocharyan informed the parties that he had ordered law-enforcement bodies to respond immediately to all violations of the law and to take corresponding measures. Kocharyan also expressed his opinion on the deputy immunity issue and said that it would be better to give up the absolute category of immunity.