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Council of Europe / Conseil de l'Europe
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Doc. 8448
21 June 1999
Ad hoc Committee to observe the parliamentary elections in Armenia (30 May 1999)
Report
Bureau of the Assembly
Rapporteur: Mrs Hanneke Gelderblom-Lankhout, Netherlands, Liberal, Democratic and Reformers' Group
I. Introduction
1. The Republic of Armenia applied for membership of the Council of Europe on 7 March 1996. The Committee of Ministers invited the Parliamentary Assembly to formulate an opinion on this matter in its Resolution 96/21 of 15 May 1996.
2. At the invitation of the President of the Parliament of the Republic of Armenia, the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly decided to observe the Parliamentary elections on 30 May 1999, considering that such observation was a major factor in the accession procedure.
3. At the suggestion of the political groups, the Bureau set up an Ad hoc committee with the following membership:
- Mrs Hanneke Gelderblom-Lankhout, LDR, Netherlands (Head of delegation
and Rapporteur)
- Mrs Carmen Calleja, SOC, Spain
- Mr Björn von der Esch, EPP/CD, Sweden
- Mrs Pilar Pulgar, EPP/CD, Spain
- Mrs Olga Sehnalova, SOC, Czech Republic
- Mr Leonid Strizhko, UEL, Ukraine
- Mr Andrzej Urbanczyck, SOC, Poland
- Mr Benno Zierer, EPP/CD, Germany,
as well as the Rapporteur on accession (of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights), Mr Dumeni Columberg, EPP/CD, Switzerland.
4. During the elections, the proposals set out in the memorandum on the observation of elections by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (AS/Bur (1999) 019) were implemented for the first time, and successfully. In particular, it was important for members to express their priorities concerning the observation and to decide on the voting stations to be observed. The ad hoc committee considers that these guidelines should be systematically implemented in future.
5. The said guidelines helped create a specific frame for political observation as part of the accession procedure. The accreditation, programme of meetings, deployment of observers and press release were all dealt with separately from the other observers, with valuable assistance from the Armenian Parliament. It was confirmed that the PACE delegations' material independence was a sine qua non for their political independence and their high profile.
6. Mr Petr Sich, Mr Markus Adelsbach and Francesc Ferrer provided secretarial services for the ad hoc committee.
7. The ad hoc committee visited Armenia from 27 to 31 May 1999. The detailed programme of activities is reproduced in Appendix 1.
II. Evaluation of previous elections
8. Three general elections have taken place in Armenia since the adoption of the new Constitution on 5 July 1995: parliamentary elections in 1995 and presidential elections in 1996 and 1998. Assembly ad hoc committees had observed all of these except the presidential election of September 1996.
9. During the Parliamentary elections in July 1995, several irregularities and omissions had been observed, although the electoral climate had been considered free. The presidential election of September 1996 had been severely criticised by the OSCE/ODIHR observer delegation, which had actually questioned its validity. Furthermore, Mr Woltjer, the Political Affairs Committee's previous rapporteur, as well as your rapporteur have visited Armenia after the election and had also cast doubt on its validity. In fact, a climate of serious political crisis was observed, as some members of the opposition were deprived of their immunity or even imprisoned. In March 1998 the Assembly had observed the first and second rounds of the presidential election and considered it generally positive, despite the many irregularities and incidents observed in certain areas. The ad hoc committee had nonetheless declared the results of this election valid, concluding that there had been considerable progress as compared with the 1996 election and an overall advance in democratic terms.
III. The pre-election period
- Electoral Law
10. The National Parliamentary Assembly of Armenia adopted a new Electoral Law on 5 February 1999. Article 63 of the Constitution sets the number of Deputies at 131, and the Law provides for a mixed electoral system: 56 Deputies are elected under the proportional representation system and 75 under the single-ballot uninominal majority election system.
11. The parliamentary majority welcomed the new Law because it had been the outcome of a wide-ranging parliamentary and public debate. Where the four main controversial issues were concerned, namely the ratio of Deputies elected under the majority system to those elected under the proportional representation system, the make-up of the election committee, the electoral register and the organisation of voting in the armed forces, compromises were reached in an effort to achieve consensus.
12. The new Law constitutes undeniable progress over the previous legislation and paves the way for free elections. While its current imperfections entail certain risks, they will not necessarily lead to irregularities. No complaints have yet been lodged with the Constitutional Court.
- Election committees
13. The Central Election Committee (CEC) bears prime responsibility for organising elections and has considerable regulatory powers. The new Central Election Committee (CEC) did not begin operating until 27 April 1999, a delay which attracted much criticism from the opposition. It has 13 members, ten of whom are appointed by the political parties and three by the Government. Any party which has a political group in Parliament and has collected a minimum of 30 000 signatures can be represented in the CEC. Five parties currently meet these criteria. The Electoral Law assigns five additional seats to parties which are registered for the elections and have secured a given number of signatures (at least 30 000).
14. However, this number of signatures is not an objective criterion, nor is it sufficient to demonstrate that a given party is representative. It is a mere prior indication which may be invalidated on the day of the elections, because there may well be a discrepancy with the actual distribution of political parties as represented in the new Parliament. It should also be noted that two of the three members appointed by the Government hold key offices, viz. Chair and Secretary of the CEC.
15. The Electoral Law does not guarantee the independence of the CEC's members vis-à-vis the parties or the Government. On the contrary, the latter are entitled to dismiss the members they have appointed three days before the elections and while the votes are being counted. Consequently, this right of dismissal gives the parties and the Government considerable scope for influencing the procedure.
16. The members of the eleven Regional and Local Election Committees are appointed in the same way as those of the CEC. In the case of ten of these committees, one of the members appointed by the Government was actually elected Chair.
17. The Electoral Law is much more specific than its predecessor on the possibility of appealing to the Constitutional Court against decisions issued by the CEC and the regional committees. Such appeals must be submitted within seven days following the CEC's declaration of the election of Deputies under the proportional representation system and the regional committees' declaration of the election of Deputies under the majority system.
- Registration of candidates and electors
18. The 21 parties registered by the CEC for the election by proportional representation vary greatly in strength. Since it is possible to be a candidate on both the proportional and majority lists, the number of candidates put forward can exceed 56, the number of seats to be filled under the proportional representation system. The number of dual candidatures varies enormously from party to party, ranging from 11 to 142. Six parties put up more than 56 candidates each.
19. In the case of the majority election, candidates are put up either by political parties or by citizens' action groups comprising at least 50 electors. The CEC registers the candidates provided they have collected at least 2 500 signatures by voters residing in the constituency. Some 800 candidates stood for the 75 seats to be filled (an average of ten candidates per seat). The candidate obtaining the most votes is elected on a single ballot.
20. The rules for drawing up electoral registers are as follows: the first list of registered persons must be posted at the polling station 40 days before the election. From this time onward electors are entitled to request corrections to the registers until five days before the election, and their request must be dealt with within three days.
21. Any disputes may be referred to the Court, which must reach a decision within five days. If the Court receives the application only five days before the day of the elections, it must give an immediate decision. The final register is posted four days before the election at an accessible place in the voting stations (Articles 12 and 13), and the CEC must publish the total number of electors three days before the election (Article 7 para. 4). The list of voters held in places of detention is not drawn up until three days before the election (Article 10 para. 2).
22. For the purposes of identifying electors during elections, the Electoral Law stipulates that a passport or a "document equivalent to a passport" is sufficient (Article 55 para. 3). In the case of the proportional representation and majority elections, two different colours of ballot papers were distributed, but only one ballot box was provided.
- Special electoral registers
23. Where voting by soldiers was concerned, two categories were established (Article 10 para. 3): soldiers whose units are stationed less than 50 km from a village, town or city are included on the nearest electoral register; soldiers whose units are stationed over 50 km from the nearest village, town or city are included on special electoral registers drawn up by the senior officer of the unit and forwarded to the regional election committee. Where the number of military voters in a given constituency exceeds 3 000, a separate polling station is opened exclusively for the soldiers' use. The CEC stated that the electorate (approx. 2 100 000 voters included about 50 000 soldiers.
24. Only those refugees residing in Armenian who have acquired Armenian nationality are entitled to vote.
25. Citizens living abroad can vote in the proportional representation election, provided they apply to the Armenian Consulate at least five days before the date of the election. According to the CEC, there were few such voters, namely between 2 000 and 3 000.
- Freedom of expression, association and assembly
26. On 16 April 1999, in accordance with the provisions set out in Articles 18 and 25 of the Electoral Law, the CEC allocated a certain amount of air time on State television and radio to those parties whose lists had been registered for the proportional representation election (on the first channel, 60 minutes per list free of charge, plus a possible further 120 minutes at a cost of US$ 5 per minute). Candidates and parties also have access to local TV and radio stations, on the same conditions.
27. The great majority of candidates interviewed expressed their satisfaction with media coverage of their election campaigns. No major problem with access to public television or radio was mentioned. This was also the opinion of the media representatives with whom we spoke. Some of them felt that the election campaign was "too quiet and uneventful". Before the day of the elections the CEC had not received any major complaints of irregularities in this area.
28. Broadly speaking, the election campaign was calm, and there were no reports of curbs on the freedom of association or assembly.
IV. Voting
29. On the day of the elections the delegation divided into six teams to visit more that 100 polling stations in Yerevan and the regions of Kotaik, Armavir, Gegharkunik, Tavuch, Aragotsotn and Ararat.
30. The delegation drew up its own deployment plan, which enabled it to concentrate the observation effort on the electoral districts where problems had been reported or which were particularly important to the delegation, i.e. voting by soldiers and prisoners.
31. The delegation members were generally favourably impressed with the voting procedure in the districts observed. Broadly speaking, voting went off in an orderly fashion, with due respect for the law. Many local observers were also present in the polling stations, which considerably contributed to the openness of the election.
32. The turnout was 55.7%, but in some regions, especially Yerevan, it was lower, ranging from 30 to 40%.
33. Nevertheless, the delegation expressed serious concern about irregularities and errors in the electoral registers and the strictly military manner in which some soldiers had to vote.
- Electoral registers
34. Problems with the accuracy of electoral registers had already been reported to the delegation before the day of the elections. Special attention was drawn to district n° 15. The authorities were faced with numerous requests for corrections to the data given in the registers, and in many cases they did not react quickly or efficiently enough, or even not at all. Some polling stations received the corrected registers late, often just one day before the elections, and for some reason the registers seemed to contain even more mistakes than before.
35. Unfortunately, these problems were largely confirmed on the day of the elections, particularly in Yerevan. Many voters could not find their names on the registers and others found the names of dead parents or children not yet entitled to vote on the lists.
36. Realising this situation, the courts, which are the only authorities empowered to order changes to electoral registers, opened on the day of the election and gave decisions on the complaints submitted. Correction request forms were available in the polling stations. Although the absolute majority of requests for corrections were granted by the courts, many electors failed to submit them and decided to abstain. In many rural areas it was materially impossible to accede to courts located far from the polling stations.
37. Similarly, there were many errors in the names, dates of birth and addresses appearing on the electoral lists, which meant that the persons in question could not vote. In order to solve this problem, the CEC took an emergency decision to allow the local election committees to correct the mistakes and include the persons concerned on a special register so that they could vote. However, this decision created some discrimination between polling stations, as it reached them late in the afternoon of the actual day of the elections. Some of them did not receive it at all, and some other polling stations, who received it in time, afraid of being accused of fraud, decided not to take this new rule into account.
38. It would appear that virtually all the electoral registers comprised errors, though the number of persons concerned has not yet been ascertained. The Chair of the Central Election Committee claims that 22 000 individual applied to the court on the day of the vote and that 21 000 of these were added to the electoral registers and cast their votes. It is, however, very difficult to ascertain how many persons decided not to apply to the court.
- Voting by soldiers
39. Some delegation members noted that the provisions of the Electoral Law on voting by military units were not fully complied with in the polling stations they observed.
40. For instance, it was reported that the soldiers were marched into the polling stations under the command of their officers, who remained present while they voted. In several polling stations it was observed that some soldiers voted twice and that some officers were included in both the normal and the military electoral registers.
41. It should also be mentioned that because of the relatively low turnout, the military vote was an important factor in some of the polling stations.
- Vote-counting procedures
42. The Electoral Law sets out a very complicated vote-counting procedure, leaving it to the Chairs of the local election committees to do most of the counting in person, under the supervision of the other twelve committee members.
43. Even though this procedure was established in order to prevent the manipulations noted during previous elections, it causes considerable delays. For example, counting often finished at 3 or 4 am, so that the committee members were generally very tired, which allegedly caused a number of errors.
44. By the same token, the authorities were unable to respect the deadline for announcing the election results (Monday 31 May at 6 p.m., for the majority election results) because of these delays.
V. Co-operation with the other international observers
45. Other international bodies were observing these elections in addition to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The following organisations sent observer delegations: the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) and the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
46. Close contact was maintained with ODIHR and OSCE PA, particularly at the level of the heads of delegation and the secretariats. This co-operation was established on an equal footing with respect for each delegation's independence.
47. Our delegation prepared a separate press release (see Appendix 2) in consultation with the leaders of the ODIHR and OSCE PA delegations. The release was distributed at a press conference held jointly with the latter delegations.
VI. Conclusions
48. The parliamentary elections of 30 May 1999 were a substantial improvement on those held in 1995. Freedom of association and expression, including fair access to the media, were respected, and the election campaign went off without any major incidents.
49. Although the new Electoral Law does have some omissions, which the new Parliament should remedy without delay, it establishes an adequate framework for organising democratic elections, and its provisions were generally complied with.
50. The delegation expressed serious concern about inaccuracies in the voting lists in several districts and considered that the authorities, at all levels, had not shown willingness to cope with this problem, which was primarily due to unsatisfactory preparatory work by the local authorities. However, we should also take account of the extensive internal migrations in Armenia, the considerable immigration, the presence of many refugees and displaced persons, the shortage of amenities and the inexperience of many of the election committee chairpersons. Improved voting conditions were hindered by a legislation which proved to be at the actual election day not yet adapted to the country situation. The intention obviously was to improve these conditions, but, sometimes the “better” proves to be the enemy of the “good”.
51. This report has also mentioned irregularities in voting by some soldiers. We must nonetheless stress that for the first time the servicemen voted outside their barracks in accordance with democratic legislative provisions. Many of the problems in this area were apparently caused by rigid attitudes on the part of certain officers, a situation which is difficult to change at short notice.
52. The results of the elections have been cancelled in electoral districts n° 15 and 53. Your rapporteur notes, in particular, the annulation in district n° 15 where two of the Assembly's teams observed serious irregularities.
53. In conclusion, the delegation considers that these elections constituted major progress in implementing the Council of Europe's standards. They confirmed the country's commitment to democracy and its determination to become a full member of the Organisation.
Annexe 1
PROGRAMME
of the visit of the Ad Hoc Committee in Armenia (28 – 31 May 1999)
Friday 28 May 1999
10.00 – 11.00 Meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee at Hotel Armenia II
11.30 – 12.15 Meeting with Mr Serzh SARGSYAN, Minister of Internal Affairs and National Security
12.30 – 13.30 Lunch
13.45 – 14.15 Meeting with Mr Parujr HAYRIKYAN, Chairman of the Union of Self-Determination
14.20 – 14.50 Meeting with Ms Juliet KAZHOYAN, Chairperson of the Shamiram fraction
14.55 – 15.25 Meeting with Mr Babken ARARKTSYAN, Head of the Republic Block
15.30 – 16.00 Meeting with Mr Eduard YEGORYAN, Chairman of the Democratic Motherland Party
16.05 – 16.35 Meeting with Mr Hovhannes IGITIAN, Chairman of the Armenian National Movement
16.40 – 17.10 Meeting with Mr Artour BAGHDASSARYAN, Chairman of the Party Orinats Yerkir
17.15 – 17.45 Meeting with Mr Vardan VARDAPETYAN, Chairman of the Party Hzor Hayrenik (Powerful Homeland)
18.25 – 18.55 Meeting with Mr Rouben MIRZAKHANYAN and Mr Haroutyun KARAPETYAN, Chairmen of the Party Ramkavar-Azatakan of Armenia (Liberal Democratic Party)
19.15 – 20.15 Meeting with Mr Artak SAHRADYAN, President of the Central Election Commission (CEC)
20.30 Dinner hosted by Mr Armen MARTIROSSYAN, Chairman of the Armenian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Saturday 29 May 1999
9.30 – 10.00 Meeting with Mr Vahan HOVHANNISYAN, Leader of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
10.15 – 10.45 Meeting with Mr Vazgen MANOUKYAN, Chairman of the National Democratic Union
11.00 – 11.30 Meeting with Mr Karen DEMIRCHYAN, Chairman of the People's Party of Armenia
11.45 – 12.15 Meeting with Mr Tigran TOROSSIAN, Chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia
12.30 – 13.30 Meeting with Ambassadors of Council of Europe member States during a lunch hosted by the Greek Ambassador
13.45 – 14.45 Meeting with representatives of the media
15.00 – 16.00 Meeting with representatives of human rights non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
16.20 – 17.05 Meeting with Mr Khosrov HAROUTYUNYAN, Chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia
17.15 – 18.15 Briefing by the OSCE/ODIHR
19.45 – 20.30 Meeting with Mr Robert KOCHARYAN, President of the Republic of Armenia
Sunday 30 May 1999
Election day
Monitoring of polling stations throughout the country
Monday 31 May 1999
9.00 – 10.00 Meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee at Hotel Armenia II
19.00 Press conference
Annexe 2
Parliamentary election in Armenia: Commitment to democracy confirmed
YEREVAN, 31.05.99 - "The parliamentary election that took place in Armenia on 30 May was an important step towards achieving Council of Europe standards. It confirmed the country's commitment to democracy and its will to become a full member of the Organisation", Hanneke GELDERBLOM-LANKHOUT said today on behalf of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly observers(*).
"The electoral campaign was conducted without major incidents. The freedom of association and expression including fair access to media, was respected. It represents a considerable improvement compared to the 1995 parliamentary election.
The new electoral law provided a satisfactory legislative framework for this election, despite a series of shortcomings which the new Parliament should remedy as soon as possible. Particular attention should be paid to the improvement of the procedure concerning the work of the election committees and of the authorities responsible for establishing the voting lists", Ms Gelderblom-Lankhout said.
The delegation visited more than 100 polling stations in Yerevan and in the regions of Kotaïk, Armavir, Guegharkounik, Tavouch, Aragotsotn, Chirak and Ararat. The voting was generally carried out in an orderly manner and in respect for the law. Domestic observers were largely present during the vote, contributing substantially to its transparency. However, the delegation expressed serious concern about inaccuracies in the voting lists in several districts, depriving a number of people of their right to vote, and about the strict military way in which some soldiers had to vote.
During its stay in Armenia, the delegation met the highest State representatives, including the President of the Republic and the President of the Parliament, the Chairman of the Central Election Committee, different political forces of the country, as well as NGOs and media representatives.
Armenia has been a candidate for Council of Europe membership since 1996. A report on the election will be submitted to the Parliamentary Assembly during its June 1999 session. Its conclusions will be taken into account when considering Armenia's request to join the Council of Europe.
_______________
(*) The delegation members are:
Hanneke GELDERBLOM-LANKHOUT (Netherlands, Liberal, Democratic and Reformers Group - LDR). Head of delegation
Carmen CALLEJA (Spain, Socialist Group - SOC)
Björn von der ESCH (Sweden, European People's Party - EPP/CD)
Pilar PULGAR (Spain, EPP/CD)
Olga SEHNALOVA (Czech Republic, SOC)
Leonid STRIZHKO (Ukraine, United European Left - UEL)
Andrzej URBANCZYC (Poland, SOC)
Benno ZIERER (Germany, EPP/CD)
Dumeni COLUMBERG (Switzerland, EPP/CD), Rapporteur on Armenia's request for Council of Europe membership)
A political organisation set up in 1949, the Council of Europe promotes democracy and human rights continent-wide. It also develops common responses to social, cultural and legal challenges in its 41 member states.
Parliamentary Assembly contact: Francesc FERRER,
In Yerevan: Tel. +3 7 42 525 393, fax +3 7 42 151 803
In Strasbourg: Tel. +33 3 88 41 32 50, fax +33 3 88 41 27 33
Press Contact
Micaela Börner,
Tel. +33 3 88 41 25 95 - Fax. +33 3 90 21 41 34
E-mail: [email protected]
Annexe 3
Results of parliamentary elections in Armenia
(30 May 1999)
|
Political Parties |
Number of deputies elected by proportional system |
Number of deputies elected by majority system |
TOTAL |
|
Bloc "Unity" |
29 |
28 |
57 |
|
Communist Party of Armenia |
8 |
2 |
10 |
|
Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun |
5 |
3 |
8 |
|
Rights and Unity |
6 |
1 |
7 |
|
National Democratic Union |
4 |
2 |
6 |
|
Rule of Law |
4 |
2 |
6 |
|
Armenian National Movement |
- |
1 |
1 |
|
Mission |
- |
1 |
1 |
|
Independents of which - Parliamentary Group "Stability" - Non registered |
33 21 12 |
33 21 12 | |
|
TOTAL |
56 |
73 |
129 |
Elections have been cancelled in electoral districts n° 15 and 53.