Politics
Armenian President Uses Yerevan Election to Cement Hold on Power
Reading Time: 4 minutesArmenian President Serzh Sarksyan has tightened his grip on power after municipal elections in Yerevan were controversially won by his Republican Party of Armenia (HHK). The countrys main opposition groups have rejected the official results of the May 31 vote as fraudulent. The largest of them, led by former President Levon Ter-Petrosian
By Emil Danielyan
Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan has tightened his grip on power after municipal elections in Yerevan were controversially won by his Republican Party of Armenia (HHK). The country’s main opposition groups have rejected the official results of the May 31 vote as fraudulent. The largest of them, led by former President Levon Ter-Petrosian, has pledged to intensify its efforts to topple the Sarksyan administration. However, it is unlikely to make the type of push for power that followed the disputed presidential election of February 2008.
The polls were conducted in accordance with a 2005 constitutional amendment, which enabled the residents of the Armenian capital to choose their mayor through a municipal assembly elected by universal suffrage. Yerevan mayors were previously presidentially appointed. The 65 seats in the new Council of Elders were contested on the party list basis, with six political parties and one alliance in the running. Under Armenian law, a party or bloc securing more than 40 percent of the vote will see the person leading its electoral list automatically become mayor.
According to the government-controlled Central Election Commission (CEC), the ruling HHK garnered 47.4 percent of the vote, and thus reinstalled its main candidate -the incumbent Mayor Gagik Beglarian. The Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), the HHK’s most important partner within the governing coalition, finished in distant second place with 22.7 percent, followed by Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian National Congress (HAK) alliance (17.4 percent) (Armenian Public Television, June 1). None of the other candidates cleared the required 7 percent threshold for being represented in the city council. For two of them, the Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) party and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF, also known as the Dashnak Party) that was a particularly bitter experience. Orinats Yerkir holds four ministerial portfolios in the central government, while the ARF quit the ruling coalition in late April in protest over Sarksyan’s conciliatory policy on Turkey. Both parties are now facing an uncertain future.
Sarksyan was quick to welcome the elections as a "really serious step forward" in Armenia’s democratization and elimination of its post-Soviet culture of electoral fraud (Statement by the Armenian president, June 1). This claim was echoed by a 12-member election observation mission deployed by the Council of Europe. In a statement issued on June 1, the mission concluded that the Armenian authorities’ handling of the polls was largely "in compliance with European standards." The monitors said "serious deficiencies" observed in some polling stations did not call into question the overall legitimacy of the official vote.
In what is becoming a pattern within the former Soviet republics, the findings of the European observers sharply contrasted with widespread vote rigging and other cases of fraud reported by opposition representatives, the Armenian media and local election monitors. The country’s largest vote-monitoring organization "It’s Your Choice," reported a plethora of irregularities, which had marred previous Armenian elections. In its preliminary report, the group said "there are insufficient grounds to believe that these elections passed the threshold of being democratic, fair and transparent" (Aravot, June 3).
Not surprisingly, the main opposition HAK demanded a re-run of what Ter-Petrosian called "the ugliest election in Armenia’s history." The 18-party alliance decided against taking up its 13 seats within the municipal assembly. The normally cautious ARF also denounced the elections as undemocratic (RFE/RL’s Armenian service, June 1). Even the pro-government BHK has not officially recognized their disputed outcome. The party, widely seen as the support base for Sarksyan’s predecessor Robert Kocharian, is reportedly dragging its feet over such recognition in the hope of gaining control over several Yerevan districts.
The BHK has few other bargaining chips in its ongoing haggling with the HHK and Sarksyan. Local commentators agreed that the Armenian president has cemented his power, and is now less dependent on his establishment allies. As the Yerevan daily Kapital characterized it in a June 5 editorial, "The elections in the capital have made Serzh Sarksyan’s authority more monolithic."
Accordingly, even assuming that the vote was rigged, the HHK landslide was a setback for the Ter-Petrosian-led opposition. Armenians have traditionally shown strong interest in national politics only during presidential races and have proven far more indifferent to parliamentary and local elections. Ter-Petrosian’s HAK clearly failed to reverse this phenomenon, despite conducting a vigorous election campaign. According to the CEC, only around 53 percent of Yerevan’s 770,000 eligible voters went to the polls on May 31. The real voter turnout might well have been even lower.
Official figures suggest Ter-Petrosian won in absolute terms, more than twice as many votes in Yerevan than during the 2008 presidential ballot as the HAK gained in the local elections. On June 1 Aravot another daily generally sympathetic to the opposition, claimed that this had resulted from, "bad political management and a lack of elementary organization." Leaders of the Heritage Party, another major opposition force that chose not to contest the mayoral elections, criticized the HAK in equally strong terms on June 5 (Hayots Ashkhar, June 6).
In an apparent effort to broaden its appeal, on June 3 the HAK urged all "democratic" forces, notably the ARF, to support its efforts to effect regime change in Armenia (www.tert.am, June 3). The call was extraordinary given the long history of hostility between the Ter-Petrosian camp and the ARF. The nationalist party, which was controversially banned by Ter-Petrosian in 1994, has yet to respond to the call.
As he again rallied thousands of supporters in downtown Yerevan on June 1, the charismatic ex-president promised to formulate a plan of further opposition activities at the next HAK rally scheduled for June 12. Jamestown witnessed him declaring: "Until we seriously analyze the situation, and the trends relating to our chances and those of the authorities, we will not lead the people into any adventure." This was an additional indication that Ter-Petrosian will avoid staging the type of non-stop anti-government protests that almost brought him back to power in the aftermath of the 2008 election.
A new football club has earned a leading place in the UEFA Champions League groups and starred in the headlines of worldwide football news yesterday. The Football Club Sheriff Tiraspol claimed a win with the score 2-1 against Real Madrid on the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid. That made Sheriff Tiraspol the leader in Group D of the Champions League, including the football club in the groups of the most important European interclub competition for the first time ever.
International media outlets called it a miracle, a shock and a historic event, while strongly emphasizing the origin of the team and the existing political conflict between the two banks of the Dniester. “Football club from a pro-Russian separatist enclave in Moldova pulls off one of the greatest upsets in Champions League history,” claimed the news portals. “Sheriff crushed Real!” they said.
Moldovans made a big fuss out of it on social media, splitting into two groups: those who praised the team and the Republic of Moldova for making history and those who declared that the football club and their merits belong to Transnistria – a problematic breakaway region that claims to be a separate country.
Both groups are right and not right at the same time, as there is a bunch of ethical, political, social and practical matters that need to be considered.
Is it Moldova?
First of all, every Moldovan either from the right or left bank of Dniester (Transnistria) is free to identify himself with this achievement or not to do so, said Vitalie Spranceana, a sociologist, blogger, journalist and urban activist. According to him, boycotting the football club for being a separatist team is wrong.
At the same time, “it’s an illusion to think that territory matters when it comes to football clubs,” Spranceana claimed. “Big teams, the ones included in the Champions League, have long lost their connection both with the countries in which they operate, and with the cities in which they appeared and to which they linked their history. […] In the age of globalized commercial football, teams, including the so-called local ones, are nothing more than global traveling commercial circuses, incidentally linked to cities, but more closely linked to all sorts of dirty, semi-dirty and cleaner cash flows.”
What is more important in this case is the consistency, not so much of citizens, as of politicians from the government who have “no right to celebrate the success of separatism,” as they represent “the national interests, not the personal or collective pleasures of certain segments of the population,” believes the political expert Dionis Cenusa. The victory of FC Sheriff encourages Transnistrian separatism, which receives validation now, he also stated.
“I don’t know how it happens that the “proud Moldovans who chose democracy”, in their enthusiasm for Sheriff Tiraspol’s victory over Real Madrid, forget the need for total and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops from Transnistria!” declared the journalist Vitalie Ciobanu.
Nowadays, FC Sheriff Tiraspol has no other choice than to represent Moldova internationally. For many years, the team used the Moldovan Football Federation in order to be able to participate in championships, including international ones. That is because the region remains unrecognised by the international community. However, the club’s victory is presented as that of Transnistria within the region, without any reference to the Republic of Moldova, its separatist character being applied in this case especially.
Is it a victory?
In fact, FC Sheriff Tiraspol joining the Champions League is a huge image breakthrough for the Transnistrian region, as the journalist Madalin Necsutu claimed. It is the success of the Tiraspol Club oligarchic patrons. From the practical point of view, FC Sheriff Tiraspol is a sports entity that serves its own interests and the interests of its owners, being dependent on the money invested by Tiraspol (but not only) oligarchs.
Here comes the real dilemma: the Transnistrian team, which is generously funded by money received from corruption schemes and money laundering, is waging an unequal fight with the rest of the Moldovan football clubs, the journalist also declared. The Tiraspol team is about to raise 15.6 million euro for reaching the Champions League groups and the amounts increase depending on their future performance. According to Necsutu, these money will go directly on the account of the club, not to the Moldovan Football Federation, creating an even bigger gab between FC Sheriff and other football clubs from Moldova who have much more modest financial possibilities.
“I do not see anything useful for Moldovan football, not a single Moldovan player is part of FC Sheriff Tiraspol. I do not see anything beneficial for the Moldovan Football Federation or any national team.”
Is it only about football?
FC Sheriff Tiraspol, with a total estimated value of 12.8 million euros, is controlled by Victor Gusan and Ilya Kazmala, being part of Sheriff Holding – a company that controls the trade of wholesale, retail food, fuels and medicine by having monopolies on these markets in Transnistria. The holding carries out car trading activities, but also operates in the field of construction and real estate. Gusan’s people also hold all of the main leadership offices in the breakaway region, from Parliament to the Prime Minister’s seat or the Presidency.
The football club is supported by a holding alleged of smuggling, corruption, money laundering and organised crime. Moldovan media outlets published investigations about the signals regarding the Sheriff’s holding involvement in the vote mobilization and remuneration of citizens on the left bank of the Dniester who participated in the snap parliamentary elections this summer and who were eager to vote for the pro-Russian socialist-communist bloc.
Considering the above, there is a great probability that the Republic of Moldova will still be represented by a football club that is not identified as being Moldovan, being funded from obscure money, growing in power and promoting the Transnistrian conflict in the future as well.
Photo: unknown
Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Natalia Gavrilita, together with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nicu Popescu, pay an official visit to Brussels, between September 27-28, being invited by High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell Fontelles.
Today, Prime Minister had a meeting with Charles Michel, President of the European Council. The Moldovan PM thanked the senior European official for the support of the institution in strengthening democratic processes, reforming the judiciary and state institutions, economic recovery and job creation, as well as increasing citizens’ welfare. Natalia Gavrilita expressed her confidence that the current visit laid the foundations for boosting relations between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union, so that, in the next period, it would be possible to advance high-level dialogues on security, justice and energy. Officials also exchanged views on priorities for the Eastern Partnership Summit, to be held in December.
“The EU is open to continue to support the Republic of Moldova and the ambitious reform agenda it proposes. Moldova is an important and priority partner for us,” said Charles Michel.
Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita also met with Paolo Gentiloni, European Commissioner for Economy, expressing her gratitude for the support received through the OMNIBUS macro-financial assistance program. The two officials discussed the need to advance the recovery of money from bank fraud, to strengthen sustainable mechanisms for supporting small and medium-sized enterprises in Moldova, and to standardize the customs and taxes as one of the main conditions for deepening cooperation with the EU in this field.
Additionally, Prime Minister spoke about the importance of the Eastern Partnership and the Deep Free Trade Agreement, noting that the Government’s policies are aimed at developing an economic model aligned with the European economic model, focused on digitalization, energy efficiency and the green economy.
A common press release of the Moldovan Prime Minister with High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the Commission, Josep Borrell Fontelles, took place today, where the agenda of Moldova’s reforms and the main priorities to focus on in the coming months were presented: judiciary reform; fighting COVID-19 pandemic; promoting economic recovery and conditions for growth and job creation; strengthening state institutions and resilience of the country.
“I am here to relaunch the dialogue between my country and the European Union. Our partnership is strong, but I believe there is room for even deeper cooperation and stronger political, economic and sectoral ties. I am convinced that this partnership is the key to the prosperity of our country and I hope that we will continue to strengthen cooperation.”
The Moldovan delegation met Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice. Tomorrow, there are scheduled common meetings with Oliver Varhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Adina Valean, European Commissioner for Transport and Kadri Simson, European Commissioner for Energy.
Prime Minister will also attend a public event, along with Katarina Mathernova, Deputy Director-General for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations.
Photo: gov.md
Politics
Promo-LEX about Maia Sandu’s UN speech: The president must insist on appointing a rapporteur to monitor the situation of human rights in Transnistria
The President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, pays an official visit to New York, USA, between September 21-22. There, she participates in the work of the United Nations General Assembly. According to a press release of the President’s Office, the official will deliver a speech at the tribune of the United Nations.
In this context, the Promo-LEX Association suggested the president to request the appointment of a special rapporteur in order to monitor the situation of human rights in the Transnistrian region. According to Promo-LEX, the responsibility for human rights violations in the Transnistrian region arises as a result of the Russian Federation’s military, economic and political control over the Tiraspol regime.
“We consider it imperative to insist on the observance of the international commitments assumed by the Russian Federation regarding the withdrawal of the armed forces and ammunition from the territory of the country,” the representatives of Promo-LEX stated. They consider the speech before the UN an opportunity “to demand the observance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the Russian Federation with reference to this territory which is in its full control.”
“It is important to remember about the numerous cases of murder, torture, ill-treatment, forced enlistment in illegal military structures, the application of pseudo-justice in the Transnistrian region, all carried out under the tacit agreement of the Russian Federation. These findings stem from dozens of rulings and decisions issued by the European Court of Human Rights, which found that Russia is responsible for human rights violations in the region.”
The association representatives expressed their hope that the president of the country would give priority to issues related to the human rights situation in the Transnistrian region and would call on relevant international actors to contribute to guaranteeing fundamental human rights and freedoms throughout Moldova.
They asked Maia Sandu to insist on the observance of the obligation to evacuate the ammunition and the military units of the Russian Federation from the territory of the Republic of Moldova, to publicly support the need for the Russian Federation to implement the ECtHR rulings on human rights violations in the Transnistrian region, and to request the appointment of an UN Human Rights Council special rapporteur to monitor the human rights situation in the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova.
**
The Promo-LEX Association concluded that 14 out of 25 actions planned within the National Action Plan for the years 2018–2022 concerning respecting human rights in Transnistria were not carried out by the responsible authorities.
The association expressed its concern and mentioned that there are a large number of delays in the planned results. “There is a lack of communication and coordination between the designated institutions, which do not yet have a common vision of interaction for the implementation of the plan.”
Promo-LEX requested the Government of the Republic of Moldova to re-assess the reported activities and to take urgent measures, “which would exclude superficial implementation of future activities and increase the level of accountability of the authorities.”
Photo: peacekeeping.un.org
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