by Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for VK
John Prescott, a British co-rapporteur of the PACE monitoring mission in Armenia, has recently visited Yerevan and tried to evaluate the process of realization of democratic reforms and preparations for parliamentary polls. Prescott noted progress and reminded that there had been talks about falsifications of elections and events of March 1. The atmosphere and expectations had changed, he noted.
Armenia shows two-sided attitude towards the co-rapporteur’s visit and expectations from the PACE. The government considers PACE’s position constructive. Vice-Speaker of Parliament Eduard Sharmazanov said that recent progress achieved in democracy, the court system and legislative acts is obvious: “The reformed Electoral Code and the political will of authorities are the paramount condition for proper elections. Our European partners believe that serious positive work was made. A bright example of the fact is that the Republican Party headed by President Sargsyan became a rightful member of the European People’s Party”.
Dashnaktsutyun and the Heritage, opposition parties, said that Prescott cannot be impartial because he supports the view of the government. Opposition motivates its idea that Prescott refused to hear their questions about replacing the majority system with a 100-% proportional system, he interrupted politicians without letting them mention cases of poor performance of the police and the prosecutors. Prescott himself denied all accusations and said that his position was neutral.
Human rights activists were displeased with the co-rapporteur’s and PACE’s work. “Nothing has changed in Armenia: the same authorities that came to power after falsified elections rule the country, the same unsolved case of the events on March 1, the same disappointed parents of 10 killed people”, human rights activist Vartan Arutyunyan said.
Relatives of the 10 people who died on March 1, 2008, are discontented with PACE’s position. The parents demand the PACE to explain reasons why does resolution 1837 of October 5, 2011, “consider the events of March 1 closed”. They believe that John Prescott avoided answering. Sargis Kloyan, father of Gora Kloyan who died on March 1, said that the meeting with Prescott lasted only 25 minutes and neither the parents, nor their lawyers had had a chance to ask topical questions. “Why does the PACE close eyes on what happened four years ago on March 1, why was not a single of the 10 murders solved? What guarantees are there that the upcoming elections would not be worse than the previous ones and without more casualties with such position? I have not heard an answer to my question of why did the PACE suddenly notice such positive changes and decided to consider the page of events on March 1 closed”, says Alla Ovannisyan, the mother of Tigran Khachatryan who died on March 1.
The “closed page” formulation caused outcries in Armenia. Some experts and oppositional politicians believe that the PACE reflected the position of the West in its approach, which, despite assurance of support for democratic processes, still prioritizes the geopolitical aspect of the problem and is interested in keeping the ruling administration of Armenia at power.
Gagik Jangiryan, head of the commission for legal affairs of the Armenian National Congress and former Military Prosecutor, called resolution 1837 a deal between the PACE and Armenian authorities.
Both views can be called maximalist. It is hard to agree with the opinion that there were no positive motions in the last years. One of the main positive steps is the release of all political prisoners, with the PACE playing an important role in the process. Another positive point is the dialogue of the government and the Armenian National Congress which was short and managed to ease the political atmosphere. A lack of prerequisites for fair elections still remains. This means that the possibility of events on March 1 should not be ruled out.
