Armenian Election Crisis Deepens

Arrests, demonstrations and resignations as opposition continues to challenge result.

By Naira Melkumian in Yerevan (CRS No. 433, 27-Feb-08)

Armenia’s political crisis continued unabated a week after the presidential election, with supporters of Serzh Sarkisian, declared the winner, pitted against those of his main challenger, ex-president Levon Ter-Petrosian who strongly disputes the result.

Armenia’s central electoral commission declared that Sarkisian, currently prime minister, had won the election in the first round with 52.8 per cent of the vote, with Ter-Petrosian in second place with 21.5 per cent.

However, Ter-Petrosian’s supporters say that the election was illegitimate because it was marred by serious violations. For the past week they have been staging demonstrations, marches and strikes to press their demands for the results to be annulled and a new election held.

Opposition protestors have pitched around 30 tents on Yerevan’s Freedom Square and hold protests every day, accompanied by patriotic music, dancing and singing.

“We will stand to the victorious end,” one member of the sit-down protest, wearing crumpled clothes and with growing stubble on his chin, told IWPR. “It is our fight for justice and we will succeed in getting this regime to quit.”

“We have the support of more and more people, we have generals and prosecutors and state officials,” one of Ter-Petrosian’s main allies Nikol Pashinian told supporters. “Our victory is inevitable and we will fight to the end.”

The phrase “Fight, fight to the end,” was picked up and repeated by the crowd.

A number of senior government officials have defected to the Ter-Petrosian cause. They include deputy prosecutor general Gagik Jhangirian, deputy foreign minister Armen Baiburtian and a number of diplomats, including Armenia’s ambassador to Italy and formerly Washington, Ruben Shugarian, and foreign ministry spokesman Vladimir Karapetian. All the diplomats have been dismissed as a result.

Jhangirian was arrested, along with his brother Vardan Jhangirian and former minister of state revenue Smbat Aivazian, and charged with using force against a state official. A number of other Ter-Petrosian supporters have also been arrested, including the leader of the New Rights party Aram Karapetian.

“I believe that the reasons for the detention of Jhangirian are obvious,” Ter-Petrosian told Radio Liberty. “As a state official he openly expressed support for me, so this is obviously a case of political persecution. Another aim is to make an example of Jahangirian and frighten other officials so they don’t follow his example.”

Ter-Petrosian’s spokesman Arman Musinian claimed the arrests had not intimidated people, but had achieved “the opposite effect” - inspiring more people to protest.

The Ter-Petrosian camp has also declared that one of Armenia’s most powerful military figures, deputy defence minister Manvel Grigorian, one of the leaders of the Yerkrapah veterans’ organisation, had also crossed over to their side. Grigorian has not spoken in public to confirm or deny the claim.

Ter-Petrosian’s supporters have staged marches to the prosecutor general’s office, the central electoral commission and the public broadcasting council demanding the sacking of the chief prosecutor, an election recount and the granting of airtime to the opposition on public television.

Sarkisian’s supporters have held their own meetings, including a picket by 20 people outside Ter-Petrosian’s house demanding that he leave political life.

“We remember quite well the terrible years of Ter-Petrosian’s rule, when he advised people to borrow money off one another in order to survive,” said one of the picketers. “Where was he all those years? Surely he has no right to ask something of the people and to speak in the name of the people.”

Rallies in support of Sarkisian were also held in a number of towns across Armenia.

Both camps held simultaneous rallies in the capital, with the prime minister’s supporters gathering on Republic Square to hear a concert and a speech by Sarkisian. After the speech was over, many in the crowd went over to the rival rally on Freedom Square, to applause from opposition protestors.

The ongoing crisis is causing some anxiety among the political elite in Yerevan.

Vahan Hovanissian, who stood as a presidential candidate for the nationalist Dashnaktsutiun party, which was until recently part of the governing coalition, said, “The authorities ought to ask themselves what they’ve done that so many people are supporting… Ter-Petrosian,” he said. “It means that something’s wrong, and they need to recognise that.”

Hovanissian resigned as deputy speaker of parliament on February 22.

Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian said the opposition had gone too far.

“For me, the situation looked quite normal until the final results of the vote were declared, and I regarded the holding of a rally as a sign of democracy, within reasonable limits,” he said. But he added that the opposition now had no basis for contesting results that had been made official.

Outgoing president Robert Kocharian – who backed his ally Sarkisian – returned from a meeting in Moscow and called an emergency meeting of his security chiefs to discuss how to deal with the continuing opposition challenge. Security was strengthened around government buildings, parliament and the president’s residence.

Kocharian gave an interview to Public Television which amounted to an address to the nation, and accused Ter-Petrosian of being “destructive”.

“Over many years we have created these state structures and now a person has appeared, a political individual, who is deliberately trying to destroy our achievements,” he said.

Kocharian said the law-enforcement agencies were taking steps to “disarm” opposition groups.

Kocharian and Sarkisian have received a boost from the broad endorsement that the election won from international observers.

Slovak foreign minister Jan Kubis, representing the Council of Europe, visited Armenia this week and called the elections “a positive step on the path of democratic development”.

Sarkisian has received congratulations from a number of world leaders, notably Russian president Vladimir Putin, but other western statements have congratulated the Armenian people on their election rather than Sarkisian himself.

US State Department spokesman Tom Casey issued a statement saying, "We congratulate the people of Armenia on the active and competitive presidential election.” The statement noted the OSCE’s assessment that the ballot was “mostly in line with OSCE and Council of Europe commitments and standards for democratic elections”.

It went on, “At the same time, we also note that international monitors identified significant problems with electoral procedures. Armenian election authorities have responded with the positive step of recounts in a number of jurisdictions. We urge the government of Armenia to ensure these recounts are conducted comprehensively and transparently, investigate all allegations of irregularities, and implement steps to improve future elections. We also urge all political forces to continue observing the rule of law and to work peacefully and responsively for a democratic Armenia."

The European Union issued a statement in a similar vein.

Political analyst Alexander Manasian said Armenia was now in an “unfamiliar situation” of which the final outcome was unclear. He said the opposition was showing it was unprepared for dialogue.

Alexander Iskandarian, director of the Caucasus Media Institute, commented, “People standing continuously in a rally cannot produce results. Either the number of people has to grow, or new developments must occur.”

Ter-Petrosian has said he will seek to have the elections overturned. Anyone who wants to dispute the election in the constitutional court has to do so within 15 days of election day. As of February 27, the former president had not filed a complaint.

Naira Melkumian is a freelance journalist in Yerevan