'Transparent and competitive, but also cause for concern': PACE report on Armenia’s elections
PACE report on Armenia’s elections
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe’s election observation mission has published a report on the parliamentary elections, which took place in Armenia on 7 June.
“The elections were competitive, and citizens had a genuine choice between different political forces and alternatives,” the report says.
Observers also found the process well organised and transparent, with no serious incidents.
At the same time, they identified several serious problems. In particular, they expressed concern over a post-election dispute involving the invalidation of voting results at polling stations 10/51, 35/65 and 12/13. PACE experts believe that if officials had counted those votes, the opposition Prosperous Armenia party could have crossed the four per cent threshold and won seats.
Meanwhile, the Central Election Commission said the annulment of the results at these polling stations did not affect the election outcome. It therefore decided not to hold repeat voting there. However, PACE described the decision as “unsatisfactory, given the significance of its consequences”.
“A perfectly acceptable option would have been to hold repeat voting at the relevant polling stations. The CEC rejected this without providing serious justification. Authorities should base such an important decision on strong, transparent and verifiable grounds. Unfortunately, that did not happen,” said Swiss politician Damien Cottier, one of the report’s authors.
Armenian journalists also noted that MPs from the ruling party and the opposition selectively presented PACE’s assessment to the public. They quoted and highlighted the parts of the document that supported their respective positions.
“Politicians often resort to such tactics. In English, there is an expression for this: cherry-picking. Politicians select and present only the findings that portray them in a positive light, while ignoring or downplaying the negative ones,” Factor TV said in a report.
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Main concerns
“Interference by the Russian Federation and foreign information operations in a Council of Europe member state have reached unprecedented levels,” the report says.
According to the PACE mission, Russia used economic restrictions and tough diplomatic rhetoric to influence the election results in favour of the pro-Russian opposition.
The report also identifies the following problems:
- abuse of administrative resources,
- biased coverage on public television and by key opposition media outlets,
- some Karabakh Armenians being unable to vote because bureaucratic delays prevented them from obtaining Armenian citizenship,
- unprecedented external interference and geopolitical pressure.
PACE recommendations
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has called on Armenia to amend its electoral code:
“The law should clearly require repeat voting whenever the fundamental right of a political force to have representation [in parliament] comes into question. It should also establish a clear threshold and procedures for such cases.”
The observation mission also recommends that the Armenian authorities take the following steps:
- strengthen the resilience of the electoral process and democratic institutions, particularly by increasing national capacity to identify and counter Russian information operations and economic pressure tools;
- broaden the range of people who can challenge electoral disputes in court, extend appeal deadlines and introduce more flexible remedies for violations;
- ensure the independence of the process for appointing members of electoral commissions;
- fully regulate the use of administrative resources and effectively punish any abuse of them;
- end the selective prosecution of opposition figures and guarantee compliance with all procedural rules in election-related court proceedings;
- guarantee the right of all political forces to hold peaceful assemblies;
- simplify documentation requirements for displaced people and vulnerable groups of voters, and speed up the citizenship and registration processes.
PACE said it stood ready to work with the Armenian authorities to address all these issues.
Ruling party and opposition representatives on the report
Hayk Konjoryan, an MP from the ruling Civil Contract faction and deputy speaker of parliament, emphasised that the report described the elections as “well organised”. He also highlighted the following points from the document:
- voters had a genuine choice between political alternatives,
- observers gave the electoral process a positive assessment at the vast majority of polling stations they monitored.
Konjoryan also highlighted the PACE observers’ assessment that the elections took place amid major geopolitical transformations. They described the scale of external interference in Armenia’s affairs as “unprecedented and alarming”.
The deputy speaker also pointed to the report’s description of the economic restrictions and political pressure that outside actors imposed on Armenia during the pre-election campaign. The report explicitly says that the goal was to influence voters and encourage them to vote for opposition forces.
“According to the report, the election results show that society demonstrated its democratic resilience despite unprecedented external pressure and the shortcomings identified. The PACE report says that the elected authorities received a clear mandate from the people, which they must now carry out with honour,” Konjoryan concluded.
Narek Karapetyan, head of the opposition Strong Armenia faction, focused on other points in the report. He highlighted the following problems identified by European parliamentarians:
“On unlawful detentions
The number of searches and arrests of opposition politicians, activists and candidates has increased significantly.
The observation mission stressed that these measures undermined electoral fairness and had a significant chilling effect on the opposition’s election campaign.
On administrative resources
The ruling party used official government platforms, public infrastructure and administrative levers to support its campaign. This significantly distorted the campaign environment and prevented opposition forces from competing on an equal footing.
On pre-election bribery
While law enforcement agencies promptly launched high-profile investigations into alleged vote-buying and illegal campaign financing by opposition factions, they dealt with similar allegations and complaints against ruling-party representatives far less thoroughly or more slowly.
On election fraud
“Prosperous Armenia” could have crossed the four per cent threshold for entering parliament, won seats and deprived the ruling party of its three-fifths majority.”
“A one-sided approach”: Factor TV’s assessment
Journalists from Factor TV examined the report itself as well as MPs’ comments.
In their view, Konjoryan and Karapetyan presented diametrically opposed interpretations of the same document:
- ruling-party MP Hayk Konjoryan completely ignored the parts of the report that criticise the authorities and highlight abuses of administrative resources and shortcomings in the electoral process.
- opposition MP Narek Karapetyan focused only on accusations against the authorities, while ignoring sections that confirm the legitimacy of the elections and document external pressure.
“Both sides present only the half of the truth that suits them. But even combining these two perspectives does not provide the full picture. For example, the report contains statements that criticise both the authorities and the opposition.”
The document says:
“Extreme polarisation in society and mass protests created a tense domestic political environment. Years of confrontation and ongoing [unfinished] legal and institutional reforms have weakened confidence in the possibility of achieving political change through institutions and elections.”
The journalists concluded that each side highlighted passages criticising its opponents while leaving out criticism of its own political force.
PACE report on Armenia’s elections
