Armenia

Vardenis Psychiatric Institution, Gegharkunik Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2003
I originally missed this story when it was published on ArmeniaNow.com last week, but when I saw it today thought it was worth posting something because it touches upon two issues among many that are ongoing interests for me. One is […]

Raffi Hovannisian, Opposition meeting protesting the outcome of the 2003 Presidential Elections, Matenadaran, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2003
Despite recent attempts to frustate the activities of the U.S. born former Foreign Minister of Armenia Raffi Hovannisian by evicting him from his downtown Yerevan party headquarters, RFE/RL reports that the charismatic […]

RFE/RL reports that the U.S. born first Foreign Minister Raffi Hovannisian who is now in opposition to the President has teamed up with Vazgen Manukian to form a pro-democracy movement in Armenia. Although both are likely to contest the 2007 parliamentary election in unison with other opposition forces, the two political figures say […]

RFE/RL reports on what was inevitable. The Armenian Defense Minister, Serzh Sarkisyan, has formalized his support for the Republican Party of the Prime Minister, Andranik Markarian, and is likely to be the next President of the Republic of Armenia. Now Sarkisyan’s ambitions are out in the open.
An HHK spokesman, Artak Zakarian, told RFE/RL that […]

A1 Plus Anniversary Protest Rally, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2004
As next year’s parliamentary elections approach, pressure on the local media has started to intensify as it always does. In 2002, A1 Plus was taken off the airwaves ahead of the 2003 presidential and parliamentary elections, and was recently evicted […]

As the 2007 parliamentary elections approach, life is anything but dull in Armenia. However, few locals will welcome further speculation that the powerful Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisyan will once again lend his support to the ruling Republican Party of the Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markarian.
In the 2003 parliamentary elections, Sarkisyan did the same, but […]

Raffi Hovannisian, Opposition Protest Presidential Elections, Matenadaran, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2003

RFE/RL and A1 Plus report that the U.S.-born first Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia Raffi Hovhannisian is refusing to vacate the offices of his Heritage Party in downtown Yerevan. Hovhannisian was locked out of his premises in March in what many consider to be an attack on the popular political figure in the run-up to the 2007 parliamentary elections. RFE/RL has comprehensive coverage of the latest turn of events.

Opposition leader Raffi Hovannisian regained control over the headquarters of his Zharangutyun (Heritage) party on Monday only to be forced to resist fresh eviction orders from the government a few hours later.

Hovannisian and a group of his loyalists were refusing as of late evening to accept bailiffs’ orders to vacate the state-owned premises from which they were controversially evicted three months ago.

[…]

Relations between Hovannisian and the Armenian authorities seriously deteriorated last December after he sent an open letter to Kocharian which effectively implicated the Armenian leader in high-profile political murders and vote falsifications. Hovannisian accused the authorities earlier on Monday of systematically harassing Zharangutyun activists across Armenia and hampering the party’s activities.

“Both the police and National Security Service exert pressure on us, threatening to strip our members of their jobs, arrest and imprison them. That is having a certain psychological impact on people,” he told RFE/RL, adding that at least dozen of them have left Zharangutyun as a result.

The news item also says that Hovhannisian is prepared to team up with the recently ousted Speaker of Parliament, Artur Baghdasarian, who incurred the wrath of the Armenian President by recently implying that the 2003 Presidential Elections were falsified and that the Government’s geopolitical and domestic policies are following the wrong direction.

Finally, an opposition leader who is respected by most Armenians not only is prepared to work with others, but is also prepared to make a stand. A1 Plus says that Hovhannisian is still in his office, and in related news, RFE/RL said on Friday that the Armenian Revolutionary Federation — Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) is becoming increasingly concerned by the likely conduct of next year’s elections.

A top leader of the governing Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) has lashed out at Prosecutor-General Aghvan Hovsepian for reportedly creating a political party which he believes is intent on bribing its way into Armenia’s next parliament.

[…]

Markarian claimed that the Assembly for Armenia and other pro-establishment groups set up in recent months will primarily rely on vote bribes during the legislative polls. He complained that “the criminal underworld is also given a role during elections” held in Armenia.

[…] The Iranian-born politician further reiterated his critical assessment of the state of affairs in Armenia, singling out endemic government corruption. He claimed that the country’s “entire state apparatus” has made sure that officials affiliated with Dashnaktsutyun have no “real possibility” to tackle the problem.

Looks like things are heating up politically, and we’ve only seen the half of it. Next year’s parliamentary elections will be the last chance for Armenia to set itself back on the right path of development. If it doesn’t, we’re all in trouble so I can only hope that Hovhannisian’s stand will prove to be an example for others to follow. The alternative is too alarming to consider.

Perhaps something will now slowly start to change, but most Armenians tell me that they won’t. Unfortunately, Raffi Hovhannisian appears to be one of the few Armenians willing to stand up in the face of increasing government attempts to silence any critical voices despite numerous attempts by the authorities to to intimidate and discredit his family.

Incidently, I interviewed Hovhannisian in September, the transcript of which can be found here.

A1 Plus reports that Orinats Yerkir is pulling out of the three-party coalition government in Armenia. The move comes after its leader Artur Baghdasarian reportedly angered President Robert Kocharian by suggesting that the 2003 presidential election was falsified and that Armenia’s future direction lies in integration with European and NATO structures.

Parliament speaker Artur Baghdasarian on Tuesday stood by his reported calls for Armenia’s eventual accession to NATO, contradicting official Yerevan’s foreign policy and prompting criticism from his coalition partners.

Baghdasarian stressed that he would rather pull his Orinats Yerkir Party out of the governing coalition than disavow bombshell statements which were attributed to him by a leading German newspaper.

“Armenia’s future lies in the European Union and NATO,” “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” quoted him as saying in an interview published on April 19. He added that “Russia must not stand in our way to Europe.”

[…]

Kocharian likewise said through a spokesman last week that he is “surprised” with Baghdasarian’s statements. Kocharian must also be unhappy with the speaker’s implicit remark, also made in the German newspaper interview, that Armenia’s 2003 presidential and presidential elections were rigged.

However, A1 Plus says that there are other issues involved.

Late in the evening the enlarged session of the political council of the party “Orinats Yerkir” adopted a decision to quit the coalition. This presupposes the resignation of Arthur Baghdasaryan from the post of the RA NA President. The decision was made unanimously: all the nine members of the political council voted for it.

More than 40 members of the administration of the party also participated in the session. According to the official statement, their main disagreement with their colleagues from the coalition was not only their approach towards the 2001-2003 privatization program but also their concern about the privatization of the Metsamor nuclear power station.

The coalition memorandum presupposes that the structure leaving the coalition must call back all its members in the government, that’s to say all the Ministers will resign too.

Tomorrow at 02:00 PM Arthur Baghdasaryan will render a press conference to inform details about his resignation and the decision of the party.

Earlier in the day, RFE/RL reported that such a move was on the cards, and not least since it has been reported that Kocharian has been seeking to punish Baghdasarian for his remarks and growing independence within a government that is merely one in name only under the direct control of the president.

The way in which Kocharian is seeking to punish Baghdasarian and Orinats Yerkir also illustrates how political corruption functions in Armenia.

Three more wealthy lawmakers defected from Orinats Yerkir late Wednesday and early Thursday, reducing to 11 the number of parliament seats controlled by Baghdasarian. His party had 20 seats as recently as last month, boasting the second largest faction in the 131-member National Assembly.

The wave of defections, which began last week, is reportedly part of President Robert Kocharian’s efforts to force Orinats Yerkir out of the ruling coalition. Government sources have said Kocharian has lost patience with its 37-year-old leader’s regular and embarrassing attacks on his cabinet.

[…]

All of the defectors are wealthy businessmen with close government connections, a necessary condition for engaging in large-scale economic activity in Armenia. Yet another Orinats Yerkir deputy, Tigran Yeganian, was expected to follow their example later on Thursday. Yeganian, 28, is the youngest member of the National Assembly. His father is the owner of a big and expensive restaurant near Yerevan which is popular with senior government officials.

Bisharian stopped short of explicitly blaming the defections on Kocharian. But she did deplore the strong dependence of Armenian businessmen on the government. “Regardless of whether a businessman is a member of Orinats Yerkir, a Republican or a Dashnak, they are facing this danger [of losing their assets],” she said. “This could happen to any political force and businessman.”

Baghdasarian, popular in European circles and especially among the political elite in France, is no stranger to incurring the wrath of his government partners. In April 2004 when the state security apparatus came down hard on opposition supporters in central Yerevan, Baghdasarian departed from the official line by criticizing the heavy handed action of riot police in the early hours of 13 April.

Parliament speaker Artur Baghdasarian criticized on Friday the Armenian government’s continuing crackdown on the opposition and made what appeared to be a last-ditch attempt to avert another violent confrontation between the two mutually hostile camps.

“You just can’t open a criminal case against a political party. I don’t know what opposition actions provoked it,” Baghdasarian, referring to the ongoing criminal investigation into the opposition Artarutyun bloc’s campaign for President Robert Kocharian’s resignation.

Several senior members of the alliance, including former Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutiunian, have been arrested and charged with calling for a “violent overthrow of constitutional order” and “publicly insulting” senior government officials as part of the inquiry.

“The guillotine is not the best means of treating dandruff,” Baghdasarian said. He specifically denounced police raids on the offices of major opposition parties following the violent dispersal of the April 13 overnight street protest in Yerevan.

While Orinats Yerkir has been no stranger to controversy in the past, its possible move from government to opposition certainly opens up the possibility for a real battle as 2007 approaches with political figures such as Raffi Hovhannisyan, Aram Sargsyan and now Baghdasarian offering a real alternative to those who represent nothing but corruption to most Armenians.

Indeed, some would argue that as the 2007 parliamentary election approaches and more new pro-government parties are created, this is perhaps the last chance for Armenia to follow a genuine path of democratization. On the same day that Orinats Yerkir apparently decided to quit the coalition, for example, came news of yet another new pro-government party setting its sights on the National Assembly.

To be totally frank, such parties can only come to power through vote-buying, intimidation and outright falsification.

A new pro-establishment party which is reputedly sponsored by Armenia’s influential Prosecutor-General Aghvan Hovsepian revealed on Thursday far-reaching political ambitions, saying it will seek to win next year’s parliamentary election and enter the government.

[…]

Similar ambitions are harbored by another pro-establishment party that was unveiled in January by one of Armenia’s richest businessmen, Gagik Tsarukian. The Prosperous Armenia Party has already enlisted thousands of public sector employees and other people in Tsarukian’s de facto fiefdom that encompasses the town of Abovian and surrounding villages. However, the oligarch is far less influential in other parts of Armenia.

Interesting days, and I’m told by some foreign workers here that the West will not tolerate another set of falsified elections in Armenia. I can only hope that’s the case because the alternative is unthinkable and the beginning of the end.

Opposition protest 2003 Presidential Election Results, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2003

Right, well no surprise there for anyone who observed the 2003 Presidential Election, but RFE/RL does quote the head of a Precinct Election Commission (PEC) as spilling the beans on by how much the vote might have been falisified in Kocharian’s favor. Prior to this news item published Friday, some analysts were guestimating that the incumbent President received only 30 percent of the vote. Of course, the government controlled Central Election Commission (CEC) declared him the winner with 67.5 percent.

Spartak Yeghiazarian, who heads the electoral commission in Oshakan, a big and ancient village in the central Aragatsotn province, claimed that he and his colleagues forged voter signatures and stuffed ballots to help President Robert Kocharian get reelected in 2003 and enact his constitutional amendments.

Officials results showed Kocharian winning the largest numbers of votes in Oshakan during the 2003 presidential elections criticized as undemocratic by Western observers. According to Yeghiazarian, the incumbent president in fact came in third, trailing his two main opposition challengers: Stepan Demirchian and Artashes Geghamian.

“The elections were a disgrace,” Yeghiazarian told a news conference in Yerevan. “We all had to support the president’s candidacy, but the counting of ballots showed that he won only 12 percent of the vote. Mr. Demirchian was in first place and Mr. Geghamian was in second.

“We had committed ourselves to earning Kocharian 60 percent of the vote. We counted all ballots marked for Kocharian, Demirchian and Geghamian, but gave Kocharian 60 percent anyway.”

As an election observer with the OSCE/ODIHR for both rounds of the 2003 Presidential Election, the results were certainly tinkered with in those polling stations that I visited. In the Massis district of the Armavir region, for example, soldiers marched citizens to vote while National Security Service (NSS — former KGB) cars were parked outside. As usual, the problem of soldiers voting under the instruction of their commanders was widespread.

In Etchmiadzin, under explicit instructions from the OSCE/ODIHR not to intervene, I had to stand and watch helplessly as a camera crew from A1 Plus was attacked by members of the PEC themselves after filming a stuffed ballot box. In many locations, actual voter turnout was far lower than the number of votes cast, something that was to set an unfortunate precedent for the shameful 2005 referendum to amend the constitution.

Yeghiazarian, who had been appointed to the electoral commission by Kocharian, said that he and his colleagues were similarly instructed to falsify the results of the November referendum. According to the Central Election Commission, a record-high 1.5 million Armenians took part in the vote and over 90 percent of them voted for the constitutional changes proposed by Kocharian.

However, the reported high turnout sharply contrasted with unusually empty polling stations witnessed by journalists and referendum observers across Armenia on polling day. The Armenian opposition said the real turnout stood at 16 percent, alleging a massive fraud.

Yeghiazarian endorsed the opposition allegations, describing just how the referendum was rigged. “We had been handed the lists of voters that also contained their passport numbers and dates of birth. “For three consecutive nights, forged signatures were put [to those lists] by the election commissions across the region.”

“In reality, only 60 people [in Oshakan] took part in the referendum. And yet we ‘painted’ 1,649 ‘yes’ votes,” added the election official.

Of course, falsifying the vote is not new for Armenian officials, and certainly not for Kocharian. According to Tim Russo, an American working for the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Armenia during the 1998 Presidential Election, the vote for Kocharian was as dodgy then as it was in 2003. Still, at least Armenians are consistent.

We sat down on opposite sides of the table, the bag of ballots awkwardly between us like a centerpiece of steaming horseshit. Pat began by consoling Demirchian, explaining that we knew what went on, we weren’t fooled by the OSCE statement, and that we had every intention of getting the truth out. Demirchian let Pat speak for a while, then after a pause began himself, his voice low and contemplative at first, building to a stronger tone of resentment.

“The first round was difficult for us, because there were twelve candidates,” he said, beginning on a conspiratorial note. “Some of my votes were given to the other candidates to keep my numbers low….” He was lost for words. Gegham interpreted each statement verbatim, his pauses to wait for the next words adding unintended emphasis to Demirchian’s own groping for them. Then, as if the first words had jolted him to reality, he regained coherence and direction.

“My proxies were the only defense…some were bought, some were scared to death, some were active, but most were intimidated and left to watch helplessly as the ballot boxes were stuffed,” his voice raised. “After all of this manipulation of the committees, I have not a single representative at any electoral committee at any level…not one,” he said holding up his finger, again beginning to lose some cool.

[…]

“They are giving people money, food, bribes. When people are so poor as they are in Armenia, you can buy their votes cheap…it will take ten or fifteen years to change this situation…The alliance between the authorities and criminal elements, including the black market…the authorities were not smart enough to avoid these elements.” Gegham struggled to keep up. I took notes.

“In some villages, we got ZERO votes…but the turnout was 99%!?! Zero votes.” He paused for effect. I remembered the precincts Gilles & I documented with 200% turnout, 300% turnout.

“It is a crime against democracy. People in Armenia have become tolerant of the lack of democracy.”

[…]

Demirchian pointed to the dirty brown bag on the table. “Look at this bag,” he said, waving his hand over them in disgust. He picked it up, and dozens of dirt covered ballots came pouring out of it. “Some kids playing football in a field in Geghakyunik marz found this bag of ballots yesterday.” He showed us their marks; every one was marked for Demirchian. “They brought this in to the headquarters…kids found it.”

The ballots, now strewn across the table, had their proxy signatures clear on the back, their marks clear for Demirchian, and the promise embodied within them stripped away, leaving us to wonder what a child might come to accept about democracy after coming across this most sacred of documents thrown in a brown bag into muddy field.

Unfortunately, it is very unlikely that the situation is going to change for the 2007 Parliamentary and 2008 Presidential Elections. There’s simply too much wealth and property at stake which is why first and foremost, Armenian citizens have got to learn to stand up for their rights. However, the international community must also be prepared to let it be known in no uncertain terms that if the next elections are falsified Armenia will face sanctions.

Of course, they won’t, although the United States has threatened to withold MCA funding if they are. Instead, the next time 45,000 people attempt to march on the presidential palace on Baghramian they’re going to have to be prepared to go straight through the razor wire, stun grenades, interior ministry troops, soldiers and snipers next time round if the process of democratization is to be put back on the straight and narrow.

Opposition protest 2003 Presidential Election Results, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2003

More photographs from the 2003 Presidential Election can be viewed here.

Harmick at Blogrel has posted news of the concerning political aspirations of oligarch and MP Gagik Tsarukian (AKA Dodi Gago) and asks is this “a progression to more liberal, European values or a backward step to oligarchic fiefdom?”

Quotes like this from the RFE/RL article that Harmick links to are oncerning to say the least. Has Armenia sunk so low?

Another jobless man loitering nearby said he too will become a Prosperous Armenia member because Tsarukian had once given him firewood to heat his home in the winter. “It’s worth supporting that person,” he said. “It’s even worth making him our king. I just can’t think of a better president for Armenia.”

Comments are being solicited, and as I feel quite strongly about the continuing criminalization of the highest echelons of political power in Armenia, I’ve made one which hasn’t shown up yet, but which is worth re-posting here.

Follows:

Hmmm, I wonder how much less the money Dodi Gago gives as charity is from the amount of taxes he apparently avoids paying?

The list had some glaring omissions, including several of Armenia’s most lucrative firms. Gagik Tsarukian, arguably the wealthiest man in the country, owns more than 40 medium and large companies. Only a handful of them were on the list and only one of them, a Yerevan-based winery, posted any earnings. Its first-quarter profit tax of nearly $20,000 is less than the price tag of any of the dozen cars that normally make up Tsarukian’s motorcade.

Tsarukian’s business empire has seen an incredible expansion in recent years. The former arm-wrestler started out as a minority shareholder in one of Armenia’s two largest breweries in the late 1990s. The brewery has claimed to be loss-making since then, and it is not clear how exactly the unusually beefy tycoon, who is very close to the ruling regime, has earned his millions. Some local observers suspect that more powerful individuals are behind Tsarukian’s businesses.

As for the rule of law, take a look at some of Mr Tsarukian’s business associates. Might also be worth looking at what Armenia Now’s Vahan Ishkanyan recently wrote about the man himself.

One of the most powerful, most infamous and famous “akhperutyuns” of Yerevan is Gagik “Dodi Gago” Tsarukyan, who is a close associate of the President’s family, and a Member of Parliament since 2003.

Members of Dodi Gago’s akhperutyun clashed with another akhperutyun in the spring of last year at “Tetsi Krug” for control over a minibus route. A mob estimated at about 200 fought in a planned rumble that left one man dead and at least two injured.

Charges were filed, but not upheld against the main men of the “razborka” (rumble). The same “main men” Hrair “Artashatsi Hro” Harutyunyan and Ashot “Bangladeshtsi Hamo” Avetisyan led their “akhperutyun” in attacking photo journalists, and beating participants in a rally on April 5, 2004, during a demonstration organized by oppositional politician Artashes Geghamyan.

Gagik Tsarukyan’s power extends to Yerevan’s satellite town of Abovyan and the village of Arinj. He also has territories in Yerevan. Two years ago he became the President of the National Olympic Committee of Armenia. During the Soviet years he was convicted for rape. But three years ago Armenia’s court expunged his conviction.