Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07YEREVAN609
2007-05-13 14:13:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Yerevan
Cable title:  

OBSERVERS GIVE ARMENIA'S ELECTION A PASSING GRADE,

Tags:  PGOV PHUM PREL OSCE KDEM AM 
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VZCZCXRO3605
OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHYE #0609 1331413
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 131413Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY YEREVAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5554
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP WASHDC PRIORITY 0051
C O N F I D E N T I A L YEREVAN 000609 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/13/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL OSCE KDEM AM
SUBJECT: OBSERVERS GIVE ARMENIA'S ELECTION A PASSING GRADE,
BUT WE'RE NOT SO SURE


Classified By: CDA A.F.Godfrey for reason 1.4 (b,d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L YEREVAN 000609

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/13/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL OSCE KDEM AM
SUBJECT: OBSERVERS GIVE ARMENIA'S ELECTION A PASSING GRADE,
BUT WE'RE NOT SO SURE


Classified By: CDA A.F.Godfrey for reason 1.4 (b,d)


1. (C) Armenia's Parliamentary elections took place on May

12. Preliminary results show a strong victory by PM
Sargsian's Republican Party. These same early results show
that the new oligarch-led "Prosperous Armenia" party ran a
distant second and three other parties -- including two
opposition parties -- cleared the five-percent threshold
required to win seats in the party-list contest. These
results do not track with a USG-funded poll conducted just
over a week before Election Day, which showed that Sargsian's
Republican Party would be the top vote-getter, but nowhere
near the results now being reported.


2. (C) Statements of international observer groups noted
significant problems, but gave the elections a passing grade,
stating that they were "a significant improvement and were
conducted largely in accordance with OSCE and Council of
Europe commitments and other international standards." The
statement's next sentence stepped backward somewhat, but will
be less widely quoted: noting that authorities "were unable
to fully deliver" on its obligations. In most polling
stations, the vote and the count took place in an orderly
environment where domestic observers and party
representatives were able to help ensure transparency and
accuracy. In a significant number of polling places,
however, U.S. Embassy observers saw outrageous violations
which did affect the outcome of results. Some of this
disparity in perception was the product of our decision to
send our observers to the areas most likely to have
irregularities.


3. (C) We know that the ODIHR observers were under strong
pressure to issue a unified statement with other observer
groups. The ODIHR Election Observer Mission Leader had told
us that he expected the statement to be the "least common
denominator." We expect that the superficial understanding
by other observer missions of the political environment here
may have played a role, as did the views of the significant
number of Russian observers present. We also acknowledge
that the process of elections through Election Day, in fact,
significantly better than any other recent election in
Armenia.


4. (C) The statements of the observer groups, by necessity,
were issued quickly, before all results were tabulated and
before accusations of falsification by domestic groups could
be considered. We expect that -- as in Armenia's 2003
election -- as time goes by and more is learned about the
process, the view of international observer groups will
become more negative.


5. (C) We suggest that any USG response to press queries
about Armenia's election should be somewhat tentative, and
should include the following elements:

- We welcomed the Armenian parliamentary elections and
congratulate the Armenian people on what appears to have been
a more successful poll than previous elections. We share the
satisfaction of international observers that the
infrastructure, both legal and technical, has been greatly
improved.

- We value highly the work of the many election officials who
were dedicated to completing their work with integrity.

- We note ODIHR Ambassador Frlec's comment that this election
is not over. We await a careful consideration of all issues
raised in connection with the election, including several
serious allegations of fraud which may affect the outcome of
some of the races.

- We hope for aggressive investigation and prosecution of
allegations of electoral fraud.
GODFREY