Armenian Officials Use Their Positions to Promote Constitutional Changes, Civic Activist Claims

Armenian authorities have made a bad habit of using available administrative resources during electoral processes, Head of the Gyumri-based Asparez Journalists' Club, member of Gyumri Council of Elders Levon Barseghyan said in a press conference Friday, November 20, presenting parts of the summary on specific cases of abuse of administrative resources compiled by “Civilian Observer,” a civic initiative created ahead of the December 6 national referendum on the constitutional amendments put forward by president Serzh Sargsyan.

Authorities took one of the most controversial steps of the campaign when they allowed voting with identification cards, he said. The bill passed on November 11 enabled more than half a million Armenian citizens who possess ID cards to vote in the referendum; however, Barseghyan stated, observation missions, civic society and opposition representatives have very limited tools to monitor the process.

“Imagine that a person will only be identified by the photo on the ID card. How do we know that's the same person? There's no address; they'll have to look into the logs, check that the name is right, and that's it. There is a huge risk of mobile organized groups going station to station and voting for missing electorate,” Barseghyan said.

The summary also documented cases of use of administrative resources at the level of governors, mayors, and community heads. For instance, as stated by Barseghyan, “Civilian Observer” held a discussion in the town of Meghri which was also attended by mayor Arshavir Hovhannisyan. After the discussion, when the initiative had already left the town, three pre-registered Meghri observers told “Civilian Observer” that they refused to carry out observation mission on referendum day because it's “too risky:” they were promised a job and do not want to chance it “for one day's troubles.”

It's noteworthy, he added, that ahead of the December 6 referendum Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan, whose views can have a direct effect on the military's voting, has also gotten involved in “the circus that is the 'yes' campaign.”

The “look, we can do anything, the power's in our hands” attitude is yet another manifestation of the authorities' cynicism, Barseghyan said.