TO VOTE OR NOT TO VOTE
Support A1+!During the elections we often hear complains that the soldiers are being conveyed by buses from one polling station to another and are forced to vote for several times.
Armenian National Movement (ANM) and of the Communist Party of Armenia (CPA) members are convinced that a soldier is a citizen and should exercise his franchise. “I think soldiers should do their civic duty in any civilized state. In Armenia the authorities by means of machinations and violations “lighten” soldiers’ duty bit”, member of the ANM Board David Shahnazaryan says.
CPA leader Ruben Tovmasyan holds the same opinion. “Our army is the defender of our state, the guarantor of our people’s security and the main power. In our opinion it is extremely unfair to deprive them of the right to vote. The Article 25 of our Constitution prohibits the formation of any political organizations in the army while any election is a political issue. If presidential campaign especially the one of the opposition forces cannot be conducted in the army so it turns out that when voting the soldiers just carry out an order like any order given by their commander,” he says.
“In Armenia however the franchise strictly differs from the principles confirmed by the law. The opposition parties are convinced that even the amendments to the Election Code will not secure democratic elections. To do that the authorities need to possess political will while people should develop civic consciousness. Elections in Armenia bear formal character and do not serve for the formation of powers. It is merely a measure regularly undertaken by the authorities, in this case the issue of the participation of the military is not important. An election law, which can changed does not matter. An elections law, which will be violated is of no importance either'', David Shahnazaryan says. He is convinced that huge percent of violations is made with the help of the military.
In this view Ruben Tovmasyan suggests, “If all the parties participating in the elections were allowed to communicate with the army, the soldiers would be able to make their own decision. In this case the elections will be real. So, first of all the issue of the fairness of the elections should be raised. Everyone should realize that violating the inner sanctum he will be severely punished by the law. I do not see any democracy in this system. Grave social conditions incite people to different steps.”
Thus we can conclude that the opposition parties do not expect any positive changes of the amendments to the Election Code.
“The authorities should not resort to violations, the opposition should be strong enough to prevent the authorities from doing it. If the authorities violate the election rules they must be punished and account for their deeds. Do you remember any serious criminal case initiated after the elections? No. All this encourages the authorities”, David Shahnazaryan says. Ruben Tovmasyan is in his turn sure that the same situation will repeat during the next elections.
By Lena Babeyan
