The 42nd session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (CoE Congress) of the Council of Europe held in Strasbourg on March 22-24 discussed the information report of the CoE Congress on the observation of the December 5 local elections in Armenia. Aravot interviewed the author of the report, Stewart Dickson.
Changes in the administrative-electoral system took place in Armenia. Due to short deadlines, some candidates and political parties did not have the opportunity to consolidate, so they did not participate in the elections. Do you think that this harms the local democracy in the country?
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- There is criticism in our report in this regard. In our opinion, on the one hand, of course, the reforms of the electoral system are commendable, but on the other hand, if these changes are not made long enough before the elections, along with awareness-raising activities, it can cause problems and sometimes even cause candidates to be unable to participate. Therefore, a good intention to improve the electoral system can often negatively affect the candidates’ participation in local elections. It was also a matter of concern for us in Armenia that the ballots were not the same, the Central Electoral Commission did not carry out sufficient awareness-raising work related to the voting.
How would you assess the various pressures on independent or opposition candidates during the local election campaign?
- That is a stressful enough situation. It is unacceptable that situations are created for the candidates that they simply decide not to run in the elections. For example, a complicated electoral system, pressures, stressful situations.
Now we have some cases where elected mayors are in prison without a court decision. Do you think that this is another issue concerning local democracy?
- It is. Provided the individual has the right to stand for election. In some countries, I understand that for example, people with criminal records or corruption are not allowed to stand for election. However, if you are permitted to stand for election and you become elected, then you should be free to carry out your mandate unless you have broken the law in some way. But that law has to be fair and be dealt with by judges. So, yes, without going into detail, I can’t comment on whether that particular person should be excluded or be in prison, but it concerns me greatly to hear that after democratic elections, people can end up in prison or excluded from holding the job they have gotten. And, sadly, Armenia is not the only state where that happens. This Congress spends a lot of time defending mayors and elected counselors who find themselves unfairly, unreasonably, and unlawfully in those circumstances.
In some communities in Armenia, as the mayor of the community is imprisoned, some of the municipalities cannot operate. How would you evaluate this situation?
- Such situations, naturally, deny residents of the services under the organization of the people elected mayors to do their job and it sends out the wrong message to the international community that a country that puts elected people in prison is not acting democratically or fairly.
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
