CHARGE CLEARS THE AIR ON ELECTION ASSISTANCE, MCA CRITERIA,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000093

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/PPD, EUR/CARC

E.O. 12958; N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO AM
SUBJECT: CHARGE CLEARS THE AIR ON ELECTION ASSISTANCE, MCA CRITERIA,
ABSENCE OF AMBASSADOR AND OTHER ISSUES


YEREVAN 00000093 001.2 OF 002


(U) Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly.

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SUMMARY
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1. (SBU) On January 24, the Charge d'Affaires, accompanied by the
MCC Armenia Country Director, held a press conference that received
wide-spread coverage. During the press conference, the Charge
focused on U.S. assistance programs, including the Millennium
Challenge program and the Embassy's USD six million program to help
Armenia hold free and fair elections. The Charge answered a broad
range of questions on topics including whether falsified elections
in 2007 could lead to the suspension of the MCC program, the U.S.
stance on the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku Railroad, and the
importance of having a U.S. ambassador in Armenia. Press coverage
was extensive, with virtually all major television stations,
newspapers, and news agencies covering the conference. Reports were
largely factual and positive, with a few opposition newspapers
criticizing the Charge for not being critical enough of the
authorities. A transcript of the press conference is available on
post's website, www.usa.am. End Summary.

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ELECTION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
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2.(U) Much of the press conference held at the Friday Club, a
relatively new but well-known journalist club in Yerevan, focused on
the Embassy's USD six million program to help Armenia hold free and
fair elections. This program had been in the press recently when
two pro-government newspapers claimed the program was a U.S. attempt
at "interfering" in Armenia's "internal affairs." Most media
outlets covered the Charge's comments positively, emphasizing the
Charge's statement that, "We're working with the Police and with
OVIR to improve the National Voter Registry. We're working with the
Central Election Commission to train all territorial and precinct
election committee members. ...One thing I'd like to point out is
that it's not just the American government that is working to help
Armenia succeed in its goal for free and fair elections. A variety
of other organizations, including the Council of Europe, UNDP, OSCE,
and another level of international NGOs are helping as well."
Hayots Ashkhar, one of the newspapers that recently published a
number of articles claiming the program was "interference," did not
criticize the program this time. Its only comment on the election
assistance program was its claim that at a press conference later in
the day, the Central Election Commission Chairman said he was
unaware of the program and that training of election officials was
being carried out with funding from the GOAM budget.

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MCA FUNDING CONTINGENT ON ELECTIONS
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3. (U) Much of the coverage also focused on the Millennium Challenge
program in Armenia. Most media outlets reported on the Charge's
statement that, "The MCC Board of Directors did express to the
MCA-Armenia Governing Council that a serious deficiency in the
upcoming elections would cause the MCC Board of Directors to review
out of season the eligibility of Armenia. ...A sharp drop in
performance in any one of the indicators can bring about a review of
eligibility. But, we are confident, or I am optimistic, that that
is not going to happen this year." Media outlets also widely
covered the Charge's statement on the MCA that, "Yesterday evening,
which was early this morning in Armenia, President Bush mentioned
this great new program in his State of the Union address. And he
called on the Congress to fully fund the program, which supports
countries where democracy is on the rise and corruption is in
retreat. This program, the compact of which was developed by the
Government of Armenia, is to provide $236 million for a five-year
program of strategic investments in rural roads and irrigation
infrastructure. But this program is contingent on Armenia
demonstrating that it is keeping to the commitments of continued
reform." 168 Hours, a pro-opposition newspaper, remarked that it
found it understandable that the United States government is proud
of the MCA program since any country would be proud of being able to
tell another country what to do "at a cost of only 0.0 percent of
its budget."

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U.S. AMBASSADOR IN ARMENIA WOULD RAISE LEVEL OF COOPERATION
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4. (U) Press coverage also emphasized the Charge's answer to a
question about why it is important that the United States has an
ambassador in Armenia. In an article entitled, "We Agree to
Hoagland," opposition newspaper Aravot quotes the Charge as saying,
"The appointment of an American ambassador to the Republic of

YEREVAN 00000093 002.2 OF 002


Armenia is very important for our bilateral relations. That
decision is not being taken in Armenia. The Republic of Armenia has
already agreed to the President's appointment. The President has
made his appointment and it is now up to the United States Senate to
provide its advice and consent as described in our Constitution.
...I'm very fortunate that I have close cooperation with colleagues
from the Government of Armenia and with my colleagues in Washington
as well. But I'm certain that the presence of an American
ambassador would raise the level of this cooperation and would
demonstrate the importance of the relationship between the United
States and the Republic of Armenia to all Armenians and to
Armenian-Americans in the United States."

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FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS?
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5. (U) Journalists asked a number of questions related to the
freeness and fairness of the May 2007 parliamentary elections.
Novoye Vremya, a Russian-language pro-government newspaper,
published an article entitled, "I Hope the Elections Will be Carried
Out Without Violations." The article says, "Godfrey himself did not
hide his optimism regarding Armenian-U.S. relations. He said, 'I am
optimistic,' and this became the key statement in his press
conference yesterday. This related basically to the upcoming
elections, which, as hoped by the diplomat, will be carried out
without violations." Haykakan Zhamanak, a sensationalist opposition
daily, was critical of the Charge for not being tougher on Armenia's
authorities. Regarding the Charge's answer to a question about
whether the elections could already be considered not free since
opposition figures did not have access to certain resources and were
unable to gain access to television airtime, the newspaper comments,
"In order to not answer the question directly, Godfrey pretended not
to understand. 'This is an issue widely discussed during political
debates in the United States as well,' Godfrey said. Won't you tell
us, do the Republicans in the U.S. control all TV stations...and
constantly show their defense minister, and do the Democrats knock
at the doors of TV stations in vain and ask for a small amount of
air time?" (Note: After explaining that campaign finance issues
are a hotly debated issue, including in the United States, the
Charge addressed the issue of fair coverage by television stations.
He said, "But again, if I can make an appeal to you, and especially
to the broadcast journalists, to be equitable, be fair, make sure
that your listeners, and your viewers, and your readers have an
opportunity to hear from all the candidates." As we expected and as
far as we are aware, no television station aired this appeal. End
Note.)

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COMMENT
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6. (U) This press conference allowed us to stress the importance of
free and fair elections in 2007, describe the MCA-Armenia Program
and the fact that it is contingent upon Armenia's performance in the
indicator areas, and accurately explain our election assistance
program. This was an opportune time to get our message out to the
public, as elections are approaching and our election assistance
program had recently received critical press coverage.

GODFREY