“During the Yerevan Council of Elders elections, we saw the lowest participation rate ever recorded in Yerevan. It was worrying,” Carla Dejonghe, the author of report on the elections of the Council of Elders of the City of Yerevan, the head of the delegation observing the elections of the Yerevan city council, expressed this concern in a conversation with “Aravot.” To remind: during the 45th session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (CoE Congress), the Congress adopted the report on the elections of the Council of Elders of the City of Yerevan.
The nine-person Congress delegation was in Armenia on an observation mission on September 15-18. We asked Carla Dejonghe what her observations show why such a low turnout was recorded in Yerevan, and she answered. One of the reasons is that these elections were not about local issues. Many candidates during the pre-election campaign talked about national security, and because of this, many local cases were left out.
Meanwhile, people wanted to hear the candidates’ opinions and suggestions about local issues. When people participate in local elections, they want politicians to talk about their everyday problems and what they propose to do about those problems. And during the Yerevan Council of Elders election campaign, those questions were omitted. Therefore, this played a significant role in people’s election participation. It was unfortunate that few young people participated in the polls. They were disappointed with the campaign.
To our observation, don’t you think that the geopolitical situation played a significant role in this issue, she answered. “We think this was a test for the majority to see how the elections will be at the national level.” We asked Carla Dejonghe if she didn’t get the impression that people in Yerevan are disappointed with all parties, which played a significant role in the low level of participation, and she responded. “It is not only in Yerevan. All over Europe, people are disappointed. For example, in my country, Belgium, too, people are disappointed with politicians and politics in general. So, I think this is a common problem for democracy throughout Europe.” To solve this problem, the report’s author believes that politics should be brought closer to the people, which can be done through local issues.
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We reminded you that you had recorded that the pre-election campaign was polarized, and we asked you what the basis for expressing such a view was; she answered. “We talked with representatives of different groups; for example, the fact that the candidates used the services, administrative resources during the election, or some candidates contributed a lot of money to the campaign.” According to Carla Dejonghe, with some of the leading candidates who continued to fulfill their official duties, it was confusing whether it was campaigning or whether they were fulfilling their authorized obligations.
The head of the observation group of the CoE Congress noted that significant progress has been made in the field of organizing elections in Armenia. “We are glad that Armenia followed our previous recommendations. The Central Election Commission is making great efforts.” Carla Dejonghe highly appreciated the training of the heads of electoral commissions, commission members, their work, the system of electronic identification, and cameras through which the voting process could be monitored live.
According to Carla Dejonghe, some improvements are still needed; for example, there is still work to be done regarding the accessibility of polling stations, as many polling stations are still inaccessible to people in wheelchairs. It needed to be clarified to the head of the observation mission why mobile ballot boxes could be used during national elections but not local ones. Another concern is that only some women headed the voter lists.
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN, Strasbourg
“Aravot” daily, 28.10.2023
