“Years ago when the government introduced the system of passing exams for the observers and compelled to go and pass the exam at Mukuchyan’s office, we had to use the status of mass media which provides by the law to monitor the elections without passing the exam. Well, good for us, they deserved it,” – said the Chairman of the Council of “Asparez” Journalists’ Club, Levon Barseghyan, in an interview with Aravot.am, referring to the restrictions enshrined by the draft of the new Electoral Code (EC). Note that the draft of the new Electoral Code provides restrictions in the work of media and observation organizations.
In other words, if the draft is approved in the present form, then a limited number of mass media representatives and observers will have the opportunity to work at polling stations during the elections in 2017. According to the new Electoral Code (Article 65, paragraph 7), it is not allowed to have more than 8 local observers and representatives of mass media in the voting room at the same time, which as such restricts the work of both the journalists and the observers. Note that during the elections and the referendum, numerous people were wandering in the polling stations with the license of a representative of “Asbarez” Club, ilur.am website and “Kentron” TV Company, a part of them were even introduced as an operator and journalist. “I am explaining people for three years but they do not understand that “Asparez” Journalist’s Club has not issued a license of a journalist to anyone and who says this, is a lie. “Asbarez” Club has issued a license of a mass media representative provided for by the law. A mass media representative can be even Serzh Sargsyan in the case of mutual desire. Those who spoke of the law either deliberately wangle the history or are ignorant. Anyone can be a mass media representative. I have given licenses to about 700-800 mass media representatives for the last referendum, before that, during the elections, I had personally authorized 200-300 mass media representative as an editor to be as my representative. If I want to monitor the elections by mass media about what is going on, our law provides it long ago: to send a representative to the polling station, be it a journalist or not. Suppose, 100 mass media want to control the elections, whether he has the right or not. The Constitution provides this opportunity. If the government did so that we would not want to do it, it would have been much better for us. The government has made all the efforts for years to rig the elections, not to judge the falsifiers, and do they want us not to be interested in monitoring these frauds?” said Mr. Barseghyan.
He qualified the draft of EC an absurd and assured, “We are going to monitor one way of the other. How much they try to artificially reduce the interest of the mass media and NGOs, our interest will not be reduced thus. Let them try to argument that there is no room inside … if the government provides sufficient admissible control for me, for example, publishes the voters’ lists, broadcasts by Internet detailed monitoring with five cameras from all polling stations, make a video recording and saves as information provided by the law, I may possibly not send anybody to the polling stations. If it obstacles and orders me to pay only taxes and it will eat it and rig the elections, then we will continue the strong control. If they try their fortune to limit the presence of the mass media and observers in the polling stations and pushed their relatives, kinsfolks and those who are fed by them, then nothing is left for us to do than to nominate my supporters to different regions and send the proxies to the polling stations so that to control the elections at least with the help of the proxies.”
Arpine SIMONYAN
