US embassy cable - 05YEREVAN1731

C O N F I D E N T I A L YEREVAN 001731 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN, DRL 
NSC FOR DAVID MERKEL 
USMISSION OSCE FOR KIT TRAUB 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/27/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PREL, AM 
SUBJECT: ARMENIA:  LOCAL ELECTIONS SERIOUSLY FLAWED 
 
REF: YEREVAN 1593 
 
Classified By: CDA A.F. Godfrey for reasons 1.4(b,d). 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (C) Local election monitors, news media, and our own 
employees are among the growing chorus of critics of 
"widespread violations" in local Armenian elections, 
currently being held across the country on a rolling schedule 
from September 18 through October 23.  Local elections have 
spurred accusations of voting list inaccuracies, police 
interference, ballot box stuffing, illegal campaigning, abuse 
of proxy rights, and other violations of electoral procedures. 
 
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PRESIDENT KOCHARIAN:  LOCAL ELECTIONS "NORMAL" 
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2. (C) During September 25 elections in the "Kentron" 
community of Yerevan where President Robert Kocharian and 
Defense Minister Serzh Sargsyan voted, Kocharian told 
reporters that despite some complications with new 
requirements for "seals and signatures" local elections are 
"normal."  In a September 26 press conference, Council of 
Europe observers said they noted "fewer violations" than in 
past elections, a weak validation of Kocharian's claims. 
 
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SOME VOTERS DISAGREE WITH KOCHARIAN'S ANALYSIS 
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3. (C) Several of Post's local employees complained that 
voter lists, which record eligible voters by household, 
included as residents of their homes people they did not 
know.  They said that, in the absence of voting booths, 
election commission officials watched them closely as they 
voted and prevented them from sealing their ballots.  Other 
local embassy employees complained that election officials 
turned them away from the polls after their names had been 
inexplicably removed from their relevant voting list. 
 
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PARLIAMENT OPENS SESSION:  CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS ON TAP 
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4. (C) On September 27, Parliament returned in extraordinary 
session for hearings on the GOAM Law on Referendums and to 
ultimately take up the Council of Europe (CoE) Venice 
Commission-approved constitutional amendment package in a 
third, and final, pro forma reading.  In the opening session, 
opposition members continued their boycott-breaking criticism 
of the Kocharian Administration (reftel) and cited 
"widespread irregularities" in the administration of local 
elections as evidence that the GOAM is not committed to a 
democratic Armenia with free and fair elections.  Parliament 
returns on September 28 to continue debating. 
 
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COMMENT:  LOCAL ELECTIONS A LIKELY SIGN OF THINGS TO COME 
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5. (C) Reminiscent of the 2003 presidential and parliamentary 
elections and likely a forecast of the November 
constitutional amendments referendum (reftel), the local 
elections have already spurred accusations of irregularities 
from international and domestic elections monitors, news 
media, and the public at large.  With GOAM support, the USG 
is launching a new set of programs aimed at establishing 
stronger democratic institutions in Armenia.  None of these 
programs, however, will have had a chance to change the 
environment before the November referendum to change 
Armenia's constitution. 
GODFREY