PLATFORM : Was It ‘Free, Fair’?

I was one of only a handful of foreign observers who made the journey to witness this event. We saw a process which had the outward appearance of democracy but may have lacked the substance.

Armenia’s written election law provides for a secret ballot and some safeguards against cheating. On election day, although an effort was made to follow proper procedures in most places, we did witness or hear reports of a number of violations. For example, some voters were allowed to cast more than one ballot. (We saw one man with so many ballots that he could not force them all into the box at one time.) An observer from the European Economic Community reported that poll workers promised increased gasoline rations to Ter-Petrosian’s supporters. Another observer told of poll workers who would not give pens to voters unless they promised to mark their ballots for Ter-Petrosian.

These incidents alone do not appear to account for Ter-Petrosian’s 80% majority, but a far more serious issue arises from events prior to the election. Opposition candidates informed us that candidates were given a total of only 2 1/2 hours of time on government-controlled television and were not allowed to purchase any additional radio or TV advertising; the independent press was unable to publish during the campaign due to shortages of ink and paper; a nonpartisan election report was printed by the government but was not distributed in many areas, and throughout the campaign the government-controlled media lavished favorable “news coverage” on Ter-Petrosian. Representatives of candidate Paruyr Hayrikyan also charged that there were serious incidents of harassment and violence against his campaign, including an organized attack in which cars and cameras were destroyed and two people required hospitalization.

If these allegations are correct, then the Armenian election was not “democratic” as most Americans would understand that term. Many of our cherished freedoms, including the freedom of the press, are based on the principle that the people have a right not only to choose but to make an informed decision based on the free flow of information.

Before our government declares that the Armenian election was “free, fair and democratic,” as Rep. Mel Levine (D-Santa Monica) has proposed, these allegations should be investigated, both out of concern for human rights in a small country far away and because the conditions that would permit such abuses also exist in other Soviet Republics with great strategic significance, like the Ukraine, where an independence referendum and presidential election are scheduled on Dec. 1.