“Tractors for Votes.” Prominent American Newspaper Adverted to Parliamentary Elections in Armenia

American “The Weekly Standard” newspaper, adverting to May 6 National Assembly elections, states that every election in Armenia for the last 21 years has been praised by the West as a step in Armenia’s democratic progress. That this tiny Christian nation has held elections at all strikes the outside world as worthy of applause.

After centuries of Ottoman oppression, culminating in a genocide that wiped out two-thirds (1.5 million) of its people and robbed the rest of their homes, followed by 70 years of Soviet rule, the emergence in 1991 of an independent state with the name “Republic of Armenia” was something of a miracle. The smallest post-Soviet republic is landlocked and largely mosque-locked: Armenia enjoys Turkey, Iran, Georgia, and Azerbaijan around its borders. The latter threatens war at any moment to reoccupy the ancient Armenian territory of Mountainous Karabakh—the Stalin-carved region Armenians fought to liberate in 1993—and spends millions hosting diplomats and journalists to inform them of the evil “Armenian enemies” who control the world’s media and banks.

Corruption seems like small potatoes in a climate like this. Which is one reason so few in the outside world have bothered to notice how Armenia’s political culture is reversing the triumph of its independence, guiding the nation steadily deeper into the lap of Grandmother Russia.

American ambassador John Heffern and EU leaders gave the election a thumbs-up. Considering the fairer media coverage and less blood this time around, it might have been justified. Only one independent candidate withdrew from the race, after being beaten nearly to death by the thugs of an oligarch who opposed him on the Republican ticket. In terms of actual voting, however, the truth was hinted at by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s report of “widespread interference” in the process. That was the notoriously namby-pamby OSCE’s way of describing the most fraudulent and publicly dispiriting election in the country’s history.

Since Armenia’s last parliamentary election in 2007, roughly 300,000 people have left the country. Yet voter turnout this year somehow increased by 200,000. Armenian citizens are not allowed to vote from outside the country. But their names and passport information—plus those of many corpses appeared on election lists.

The article states the Heritage party leader Raffi Hovhannisyan asked the voters during a meeting in the framework of election campaign whether they took bribes. The majority of voters gave a positive answer. Also, it is mentioned in the article that according to the report of OSCE Election Observation Mission the political party headed by the world arm wrestling champion Gagik Tsarukyan distributed election bribes (tractors) to villagers.

Vast number of violations and distribution of election bribes during May 6 elections “deepened the gap between the government and population making the situation even more dangerous than ever. “ According to the article this was stated by an opposition leader Raffi Hovhannisyan, whose political party occupied the least number of seats in the Parliament. Raffi Hovhannisyan is likely to be nominated in the presidential elections 2013.

As the author of the article sums up, political regress weakens Armenia's positions  allowing enemies to take advantage of it. In this regard, presidential elections 2013, may be described as the last hope of “Armenian spring.”