Monday, June 1, 2009

Council of Europe - A tool of the banditocracy?

The outcomes are not too surprising - HHK won with percentages that are impossible. And HAK got nothing close to what we know they really got. Names falsified, people bused in, ballots stuffed, journalists and others physically intimidated, and on and on.

What is surprising is the way HHK royally gave it to the BHK. As was just said at the Matenadaran, was this the deal BHK cut with the HHK? (See my favorite video from this series so far, "Es eyik uzum?"). How will an ego like Dodi Gago's take this kind of "election" result? Could it be that the HHK really kept BHK numbers low out of extreme fear that BHK might team up with HAK, and outnumber them (which is one theory out there)? Or maybe just out of fear of the BHK itself?

What else is a touch surprising is the obvious, open way in which the ballot stuffing, intimidation, and everything else was done. You'd think they'd try to be a bit more hidden. Maybe this was subtle, for them.

Here's another one. What is going on in the heads of the European organizations who have noted the significant improvement in the election process? Let's go through this logically.

--Maybe they really just keep forgetting what they are being told; maybe they have difficulty reading, taking notes; maybe they're so understaffed and so overwhelmed that they just can't handle all of the reports by journalists, and organizations such as Transparency International and the Helsinki Association.
Doubtful. Thought maybe it is the case since, similar to the Presidential elections of 2008, observers were noted to be eating at a local cafe during voting - maybe they were exhausted from their trips, and just had to rest during the elections.

--Maybe there's some sort of deal. Maybe they're letting this go and they will deal this banditocracy what it deserves at the PACE meetings in late June. Right... promises, promises. Maybe they're letting this go, and in exchange the political prisoners are going to be released soon, the result of an agreed exchange with SS (or maybe it has to do with NK, or Turkey). That's like handing over the ransom money, believing the promise that the hostage will be released... tomorrow. (Actually, it would be a lot like that). And that's just stupid.

--Maybe those writing the reports of these observers are being threatened.
Possible. But unlikely.

--Maybe they have something to gain. Business-wise, financially.
Doesn't seem completely out of the question given the possibilities so far.

--Maybe they just don't care. Armenia is small. Armenia is mostly a pain for these European countries who are tired of being nagged about Genocide, about Human rights in the Caucasus. If anything, they like the potentially strategic geographic location of Armenia (in the path of potential pipelines, near Russia, Turkey, Iran), and when they want to, they consider it an island of Christianity which somehow implies a bond. When they want to. It used to be considered stable, as well - but now thats gone. Armenia can be used to bug, poke and prod Turkey, to make its life difficult. But I would like to believe that at least some of the people who go into these professions actually care. Maybe they care, but they've fallen into a self-perpetuating cycle of impotence.

--Maybe they don't want LTP back. He is much harder to manipulate and pressure than RK or SS ever was. Back in the 1990's, this posed a problem for some of the Western Countries. Maybe they're scared of it now.
I don't know if this is a factor now. If it is playing a role, though, how ironic and sad that these organizations have actually become an impediment to democracy, a tool of the banditocracy, in order to better achieve their own goals.

Any other ideas?

[Check out election "irregularities" caught on video via echannel news]

5 comments:

Ani said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ani said...

My tweet (@GoldenTent): Tzitzernak blog's thoughts on election fraud in #Armenia and why #CoE observers opt to ignore it http://bit.ly/ygjEH #yerevan

Anonymous said...

Good riddance to levon. No wonder he will not participate in the process. For him it is just about undermining the state.

Ankakh_Hayastan said...

They want stability in the country. They've been dealing with RK and SS for a long time now and are averse to change. I mean, they could care less about the internal politics of Armenia and the situation with democracy as long as their interests are met.

Utimately, it is the business of the Armenian citizens to improve their country. Nobody, not a single outsider will do that for them. I just wished the outsiders were not a barrier like this - you can't claim to be the bearer of the torch for human rights and then go and support a dictator that has no clue about human rights.

Ani said...

In an article about Iran's upcoming presidential elections, I read an interesting quote: http://bit.ly/OS4Ok
[...]
Even as they reminisced about the town's most powerful son, its people prepared to welcome the candidate of reform who hopes to succeed the conservative Ahmadinejad. The town square was covered with neon-yellow get-out-the-vote banners proclaiming "Every citizen a campaign headquarter."
-------------

Of course, I don't know how it will turn out in Iran, but if somehow, somehow Armenians could consider "every citizen a campaign headquarter" instead of "what can I do? It's already decided" then there could be some true progress.