U.S. UNVEILS $6 MILLION PLAN TO FOSTER FREE ELECTIONS IN ARMENIA
November 3, 2005
Eurasia Daily Monitor
By Emil Danielyan
The United States has unveiled a $6 million plan to facilitate the conduct of free and fair elections in Armenia. The program, outlined by the U.S. ambassador in Yerevan, John Evans, on October 27, has a logistical emphasis and does not seem to address the political root cause of the country's chronic vote rigging.
[...]
The U.S. initiative will begin to be implemented at the beginning of next year. According to Evans, it involves a set of largely technical measures such as training election officials and candidate proxies, publishing Armenian election laws and other relevant documents, and voter education. The U.S. Agency for International Development, which is in charge of its implementation, will also allocate grants to local non-governmental organizations dealing with the electoral process.
[...] Armenia's rulers are simply unwilling to step down just because the majority of voters want them gone. And it is highly doubtful that election officials handpicked by them will display greater respect for law after undergoing U.S. training.
The U.S. government itself strongly criticized Kocharian's hotly disputed reelection in March 2003, saying that Armenia has missed an important chance to become a democratic state. It reacted similarly to the previous Armenian presidential ballots. So did other Western governments and organizations. However, such moves never entailed any tangible negative consequences for the authorities in Yerevan.
[...]
There are different theories about why the U.S. administration is clearly supportive of the Armenian authorities. Some observers believe that it is less-than-impressed with leaders of the Armenian opposition and finds Kocharian more credible and predictable. Others say the Americans will not undercut Kocharian and Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev now that they appear close to reaching a long-awaited agreement to resolve the Karabakh conflict, a key U.S. objective in the region.
[...]
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
Eurasia Daily Monitor
By Emil Danielyan
The United States has unveiled a $6 million plan to facilitate the conduct of free and fair elections in Armenia. The program, outlined by the U.S. ambassador in Yerevan, John Evans, on October 27, has a logistical emphasis and does not seem to address the political root cause of the country's chronic vote rigging.
[...]
The U.S. initiative will begin to be implemented at the beginning of next year. According to Evans, it involves a set of largely technical measures such as training election officials and candidate proxies, publishing Armenian election laws and other relevant documents, and voter education. The U.S. Agency for International Development, which is in charge of its implementation, will also allocate grants to local non-governmental organizations dealing with the electoral process.
[...] Armenia's rulers are simply unwilling to step down just because the majority of voters want them gone. And it is highly doubtful that election officials handpicked by them will display greater respect for law after undergoing U.S. training.
The U.S. government itself strongly criticized Kocharian's hotly disputed reelection in March 2003, saying that Armenia has missed an important chance to become a democratic state. It reacted similarly to the previous Armenian presidential ballots. So did other Western governments and organizations. However, such moves never entailed any tangible negative consequences for the authorities in Yerevan.
[...]
There are different theories about why the U.S. administration is clearly supportive of the Armenian authorities. Some observers believe that it is less-than-impressed with leaders of the Armenian opposition and finds Kocharian more credible and predictable. Others say the Americans will not undercut Kocharian and Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev now that they appear close to reaching a long-awaited agreement to resolve the Karabakh conflict, a key U.S. objective in the region.
[...]
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 7:36 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home