Local elections in Armenia see gross rights violations
By Mushvig Mehdiyev
Gross violations, including the traditional crowding at polling stations, guided votes, as well as presence of unauthorized persons accompanied the recent elections to Armenia’s local government bodies, Transparency International reported.
Lena Nazaryan, an official to the Transparency International
Anti-Corruption Center, said "numerous violations" which are
typical of the Armenian reality were registered at the polls.
The elections which took place in 33 communities throughout Armenia
last week once again revealed flaws and irregularities in the
voting process, according to observers who monitored the votes.
Europe in Law Association NGO member Tigran Yegoryan confirmed that
the attempts of voting instead of another person were regularly
registered at the polls.
"There was a citizen who tried to drop three ballot-papers at once
into the election box. It was immediately detected and prevented by
observers," Yegoryan said, adding that the elections in Armenia
have a "universal nature."
As for Yegoryan, Armenia also has a nationwide problem as the
elections witnessed a low turnout and lacked seriously in
competitiveness in many communities where only one candidate
participated.
In view of the violations and irregularities exposed by the
observers, the Central Election Commission member Nune Hovhannisyan
acknowledged that they did take place.
"I can say unfortunately the irregularities pointed out in the
observers' report did take place. The CEC and district committees
are informed about them,” Hovhannisyan said.
One of the most vivid lack of fairness witnessed in the Armenian
elections is the ruling Republican Party's obvious superiority
ahead of and during the elections.
Members from various opposition parties that usually do not
participate in local elections claimed that administrative
resources have been heavily used in favor of the ruling party
candidates in the polls. As a result, voters are systematically
deprived of the opportunity to vote for an alternative
candidate.
Anahit Bakhshyan, a member of the opposition Hello Yerevan faction
in Yerevan’s Council of Elders, said the opposition was reluctant
to join the race in local elections, because it is deprived of real
opportunities to change the situation. In this case, the ruling
party enjoys taking advantage of administrative resources to
consolidate its grip on power.
"The authorities know that people are tired of them, but the
opposition does not have the resources to actively participate in
the elections," said Bakhshyan.
Bakshyan called the existing environment repellant and
provocative.
Protection of human rights remains a problematic issue in Armenia. Influential human rights organizations have repeatedly criticized the traditional violation of civil liberties in the country.
According to Amnesty International, human rights violations have been prevalent almost at every national election in Armenia. Ten people were killed in the 2008 post-election protests, while the presidential elections in February 2013 saw numerous irregularities, including violence against observers by local officials.
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