Today, on the first day of the PACE spring session, the report on the presidential election that took place in the Republic of Armenia on February 18 authored by Karin Woldseth, the head of the Norwegian delegation and a member of the Committee on Political Affairs and Human Rights, will be discussed. The report points out the results of the PACE monitoring mission. The document describes the presidential election held on February 18 “as generally well-administered,” but it also points out a series of shortcomings. The section called “Conclusions,” in particular, reads: “A number of shortcomings were observed during the February 18, 2013, presidential election, in particular the abuse of administrative resources and the interference in the election process by candidate proxies and supporters that run counter to European standards for democratic elections and that negatively affect the public trust in the electoral process. We urge the authorities to address these serious shortcomings, investigate all allegations of electoral fraud and misconduct and punish any perpetrators in line with the law.” The report expresses concern at the fact that voters’ choice was narrowed down by the decision of main political forces not to nominate candidates for the election. Regarding the election campaign, the report reads: “Contestants were able to campaign
freely. Media fulfilled their legal obligation to provide balanced coverage. At the same time, a lack of impartiality of the public administration, misuse of administrative resources, and cases of pressure on voters were of concern. While election day was calm and orderly, some serious violations were observed.” The PACE report presents the February 18 presidential election in the context of the events of March 1, 2008, and it is stated that this was the first election organized after those tragic events. As an important feature of the 2013 presidential election, it is mentioned: “Three main political forces didn’t participate in the election, the opposition forces failed to agree on a common candidate; this affected the dynamics of competition and scope of choice in this election.” The document prepared by the PACE states that candidate Raffi Hovhannisyan’s campaign was the most visible and notes regarding Serzh Sargsyan’s election campaign: “Incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan had an extensive network of campaign and Republican Party offices throughout the country (1 186 outside Yerevan alone) at his disposal. The other candidates had only a limited number of offices in the larger cities.” Deeming this election a step forward as compared to the 2008 election, the report reads: “The campaign regulations did not provide sufficient protection against the misuse of administrative resources, nor against the blurring of the distinction between the State and the ruling party. OSCE/ODIHR long-term observers verified instances of misuse of administrative resources in favor of the incumbent, both in Yerevan and in the regions, such as pressure on public workers by superiors to attend campaign events, campaign offices located in buildings occupied by State and local government bodies. A large number of public and civil servants took leave to participate in the campaign activities of the incumbent president, not distinguishing between State and political party as well as between official and campaign functions.” The PACE report also points out a number of cases of electoral fraud, including ballot boxes not properly sealed, seemingly identical signatures on the voters’ lists, double voting, proxy voting, multiple voting. The report states that there were many cases when voters were turned away because their names were not on the voters’ lists.
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
