Now that the dust has settled it’s time to reflect upon the Yerevan municipal elections as an attempt to understand what unfolded and what went wrong.
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It’s very-very sad that the Diaspora has become a serious liability for the Armenian state. God save Armenia from its political “opposition”; God save Armenia from democracy; God save Armenia from Diaspora’s nonsense.
I would like Christian Garbis’s – or anyone’s – ideas as to what exactly the Diaspora could actually do to ensure fair elections in Armenia.
It all depends on what (not whom) your electing! The system is written top-down. It should be reversed, turned on it’s head otherwise it will not work. The current regime is the same as in any ex-soviet republic, as they followed the same template for a constitution.
I can unequivocally state than more so than any looming threat of war in the south Caucasus; more so than the nastiest of Armenia’s oligarchs; more so than any form of crime or lawlessness in Armenia… the obsessiveness and hysteria of Armenia’s so-called “political opposition” is the NUMBER ONE reason why I sometimes feel as if I need to cut my ties to Armenia.
God, please save Armenia from from this madness. And yes, democracy for a nation like Armenia may prove fatal…
Mr. Harutik, with al due respect to your opinion you sound like Kaloost Sahakian (the sophist Armenian batkamavor) who claims Armenians’ outward migration is the result of the Oppositions’ description of the situation in Hayastan. Could it be the other way around?
Mr. Aram, with all due respect to your opinion you sound like Raffi Hovanissian (the Washington-backed operative currently working in Armenia under the guise of opposition politician).
Most nations of the world today (even European nations, even nations in much situations than Armenia) are worst off than Armenia, yet Armenians are at the forefront of abandoning their homeland.
Why is that?
The average Azeri, Tajik, Turkmen, Georgian, Kurd, Greek, Turk, Bulgarian, Ukrainian or Russian is doing just as bad if not worst than the average Armenians, yet the Armenians is the only one in the group that is acting hysterical.
Why is that?
The primary reason why Armenians (even well-off Armenians) are leaving Armenia today is the 24/7 doom&gloom rhetoric of Western and Western-backed opposition propaganda organs such as Hetq, ArmeniaNow, Lragir, Radio Liberty, Azbarez, Armenian Weekly, Civilitas, Sardarapat movement and Policy Forum Armenia.
The primary reason why Armenians (even well-off Armenians) are leaving Armenia today is the 24/7 doom&gloom rhetoric of Western-financed activists working in Armenia under the guise of human rights advocates, opposition politicians, environmentalists, feminists, etc…
The aforementioned have been bombarding Armenia with poison for years. The aforementioned are the MAIN reason why the Armenian spirit is broken today.
I see news articles such as this more harmful to Armenia than Armenian criminals.
I am sorry Mr. Adanalian:
I went through the 428 “violations” recorded on the iDitord website and did not see any record of “ballot stuffing” as you report. Please disclose your source.
I invested time and resources and monitored the municipal elections in district 7/11 and we watched over that ballot box like hawks. We stayed till the vote count ended after midnight and checked every ballot while it was counted. We then photographed the tally sheet before it was sent to the Central Electoral Commission. We then compared our tally sheet results for district 7/11 with what the CEC published, and I am convinced there was no shaninigan there either.
I am independent, I do not defend the present regime and take no sides in this election. As far as what I observed, the people of Yerevan got for Mayor the person they chose, for better or for worse.
When will we stop crying foul every time we lose an election?
Mr. Terjanian:
when you write “we”, do you mean the RoA-ARF or in general any party that is not RPA or PAP ?
thank you.
@Avery: Any person/party anywhere around the Globe. We’re not unique, you know… But I’d rather be in better company.
Ararat is not showing from our window this early morning. Is it shame?
To read about allegations of ballot stuffing, see http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24977533.html and http://www.armenianow.com/news/politics/45927/armenia_yerevan_elections_ombudsman
I am sorry again Mr. Adanalian: I followed the links to the articles you want us to read, and the evidence/allegations in the articles bear no resemblance to what you wrote in your article of May 14. Again, I did not see any allegation of ballot-box stuffing.
Garbis, no self-respecting Armenians cares what CIA funded “Azatutyun Radio” states about anything. Read some of the comments above, the last thing Armenia’s needs today is democracy. All I can say is I hope Armenia’s security services has people like you under surveillance.