Director of LINKS: If Armenian National Congress is represented in the new parliament, its strategy will have to change

ArmInfo’s Interview with Director of LINKS Dennis Sammut

• by Oksana Musaelyan

• Saturday, May 5, 03:29

Ahead of parliamentary elections in Armenia Links published a series of reviews concerning the political landscape, including covering opinion polls. Which key characteristics are being marked by this pre-election campaign?

There have been several positive features in the campaign. First of all there is a competitive environment. Voters have a choice between several parties and blocs and each party has had an opportunity to present its point of view. In this regard the media has played a positive role.

Do you think there are enough prerequisites to hold free and fair elections or will it be another profanation?

I think the campaign has been a positive factor. There are problems regarding the administration of the elections , and the full impact of this will be seen on election day itself and immediately afterwards. The most serious problem is connected with the voters list. Given that this has been a problem with Armenian elections in the past and has been mentioned before as one main causes for election irregularities somebody has to take responsibility for what is clearly a very serious issue. You simply cannot have a good election if the voting list is seriously inaccurate.

But the Armenian political parties also seem not to have given this issue enough importance. Scrutinising the election list should happen on a regular daily basis between one election and another not in the last days. Also some of the money spent by the international community on supporting the electoral process should have been directed at this task. So its not simply blaming the government. Others have to share the blame too.

Public confidence in the elections, judging from the previous experiences, is very low, and the racket connected with bribes of the pre-election campaign today exceeds any limits that have ever been fixed before. All these do not add confidence to democracy in the country. Do you agree with this statement and how much is the factor of public confidence important for Europe and further interaction of Armenia with the EU?

Of course public confidence is crucial. There is throughout the South Caucasus widespread cynicism by the public towards elections because they have seen in front of their eyes on many occasions massive election fraud. The issue of "election bribes" is more complicated. In many cases they are illegal so they should not happen. The issue of political patronage is a problem in many countries, so I do not think that on its own this will undermine the election process, although it will weaken it.

Will there be consequent reaction of the European institutions involved in monitoring?

Organizations making an assessment of the elections will have to take a holistic approach and look at all the aspects. The key issues are: Did all the parties have the chance to campaign freely and without intimidation? Was there a level playing field? Was the Election administered fairly? Did the people have the chance to vote freely in a secret ballot without intimidation? Were only people who were supposed to vote allowed to vote? And finally did the counting process proceed normally and transparently?

There may be other issues like for example the use of administrative resources that impact some of these questions, but an overall assessment will have to take everything into consideration.

How much do you think the stresses in the political programs of the candidate-parties reflect the issues of the geopolitical prospect in the region, as well as the tension in the Nagorno Karabakh issue?

I think this was rightly an election mainly on domestic issues related to the economic and social programmes of the parties. On the whole Armenian political parties have a similar position on Karabakh, with some important nuances. I don’t think this was the determining factor in the election.

A special appeal in the elections will be the participation of the Armenian National Congress. Do you think the program of this force meets the realities of the Armenian society? What do you think about the ambitions of the ANC Leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan in the election campaign given the past lack of his interest in the parliamentary elections of 2007 and his participation in the presidential elections of 2008?

The Armenian National Congress is a bloc, involving a number of parties and public organizations and headed as you say by Levon Ter-Petrosyan. As a former president Ter-Petrosyan carries some weight in society, and he has become a symbol of opposition to the current authorities. The ANC has been very persistent in its anti-government campaign since 2008. It now needs to translate this work into seats in parliament. If, as I think likely, the ANC is represented in the new parliament its strategy will have to change. It cannot continue to be a party of the streets. How it does this will be one of the most interesting things to watch out for after the elections.