A number of political parties not represented in Armenia’s outgoing parliament have voiced their concern about the prospect of “apolitical elections” ahead after the former ruling party twice effectively blocked amendments to the electoral laws earlier this month.
The current government led by popular leader Nikol Pashinian had drafted amendments to the Electoral Code envisaging the scrapping of a controversial system of so-called rating ballots that was first used in the 2017 parliamentary elections and is widely believed to have been instrumental in ensuring the victory of former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK).
Under that system, voters across Armenia cast their ballots not only for political parties and alliances as a whole but also for their individual candidates running in a dozen nationwide constituencies.
Many political experts believe that such individual races degrade political competition and make financial resources and government connections more essential in securing votes.
Thus, a few HHK candidates wielding considerable financial resources and connections provided the bulk of votes for the party in the 2017 polls.
The Pashinian government twice brought amendments that also envisaged safeguards against vote rigging and other major changes such as lower vote thresholds for winning seats in parliament and recovering election deposits, but in both cases the bill failed to get the support of two-thirds of the lawmakers as required by the constitution.
The HHK said it deemed it wrong to change the Electoral Code less than two months before expected general elections. It also accused the government of ignoring a number of alternative proposals.
Now the prospect of holding snap elections in December under the current Electoral Code has raised concerns among a number of extra-parliamentary political parties.
Deputy Chairman of the Armenian National Congress Party (HAK) Aram Manukian regretted the failure of the passage of election law amendments, noting that they would have created prerequisites for forming a political parliament. Under the current legislation, in his words, “the vicious phenomena inherent in the former government are inevitable.”
“It is already obvious that there will be no ideological competition, it is already obvious that there will be no competition of programs, but everything again will come down to a revolutionaries versus counterrevolutionaries struggle and the political component will be lost in the process,” said Manukian, adding that the HAK, which is led by ex-president Levon Ter-Petrosian, still has not decided whether it will take part in the elections in such conditions.
“Discussions are continuing, but it is obvious that our trump card – the presentation of a liberal economic program as a model for the development of Armenia – will no longer be a serious factor in the upcoming campaign,” the HAK’s deputy chairman said.
The failure of the parliament to adopt the new Electoral Code did not change the decision of another extra-parliamentary party – Heritage, of former foreign minister Raffi Hovannisian – to participate. “The Heritage Party participated in elections in conditions of violence and intimidation, and we have no problems in terms of participation,” said Chairman of the party’s board Armen Martirosian.
Martirosian, however, sees a certain opportunity for the former ruling party to use the current electoral legislation in order to regain some of its positions.
“Unfortunately, the existing Electoral Code is anti-political, anti-party and, I would even say, anti-state. In fact, the former government will have a very good opportunity to try to reanimate itself to a certain extent, and it is obvious that with such a multitude of loyal heads of rural communities it will be very difficult [for the authorities] to prevent vote buying in villages,” he added.
Varuzhan Avetisian, one of the leaders of the newly established Sasna Tsrer party, said that difficulties were expected, but he stressed that they rely on their supporters. “I have some concerns that there will also be attempts to rig the election results, and some of this rigging will go undetected, since it is a very elaborate mechanism… Some local kings will again have the opportunity to enter the parliament. And, unfortunately, the next parliament will not fully reflect the political will of the people,” said Avetisian.
The Armenian parliament is expected to be dissolved on November 1 after failing to elect a new prime minister in a vote scheduled for that day. Snap parliamentary elections then will be held in the first half of December.
A local civil group, “We Are Owners Of Our Country”, has called a protest outside the parliament building on October 31 demanding that lawmakers amend the current Electoral Code before the holding of fresh general elections.
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