Armenian presidential election, 1996

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Armenian presidential election, 1996

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  Levon ter-petrosian.jpg Vazgen Manukyan.jpg
Nominee Levon Ter-Petrosyan Vazgen Manukyan
Party HHSh NDU
Popular vote 646,888 516,129
Percentage 51.3% 41.0%
President before election

Levon Ter-Petrosyan
HHSh

Elected President

Levon Ter-Petrosyan
HHSh

Presidential elections were held in Armenia on 22 September 1996. [1] The result was a victory for Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who won 51.3% of the vote. Turnout was 60.3%. [2]

Armenia Republic in South Caucasus in West Asia

Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located in Western Asia on the Armenian Highlands, it is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, the de facto independent Republic of Artsakh and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and Azerbaijan's exclave of Nakhchivan to the south.

Levon Ter-Petrosyan first President of Armenia from 1991 to 1998

Levon Hakobi Ter-Petrosyan, also known by his initials LTP, is an Armenian politician. He was the first President of Armenia from 1991 to 1998. A senior researcher at the Matenadaran Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, he led the Karabakh movement for the unification of the Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia in 1988. After Armenia's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Ter-Petrosyan was elected president in October 1991 with overwhelming public support. He led the country through the Nagorno-Karabakh War with neighboring Azerbaijan, during which Armenia supported the Republic of Artsakh in fighting against Azerbaijan.

Contents

Background

The 1996 presidential election was the second presidential election after Armenia's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. On 18 September 1996, few days before the election, the influential Defence Minister Vazgen Sargsyan stated that he is "satisfied with the situation." Addressing Ter-Petrosyan's supporters, he proclaimed that Armenia "will enter the 21st century victoriously and stable with Ter-Petrosyan." [3] The opposition parties (Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Paruyr Hayrikyan's Union for National Self-Determination, Aram Sargsyan's Democratic Party) consolidated around the former Karabakh Committee member and former Prime Minister Vazgen Manukyan. [4]

Vazgen Sargsyan military commander, politician

Vazgen Sargsyan was an Armenian military commander and politician. He was the first Defence Minister of Armenia from 1991 to 1992 and then from 1995 to 1999. He served as Armenia's Prime Minister from 11 June 1999 until his assassination on 27 October of that year. He rose to prominence during the mass movement for the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia in the late 1980s and led Armenian volunteer groups during the early clashes with Azerbaijani forces. Appointed Defence Minister by President Levon Ter-Petrosyan soon after Armenia's independence from the Soviet Union in late 1991, Sargsyan became the most prominent commander of Armenian forces during the Nagorno-Karabakh War. In different positions, he regulated the military operations in the war area until 1994, when a ceasefire was reached ending the war with the de facto unification of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic with Armenia.

Armenian Revolutionary Federation political party founded in 1890

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), also known as Dashnaktsutyun, is an Armenian nationalist and socialist political party founded in 1890 in Tiflis, Russian Empire by Christapor Mikaelian, Stepan Zorian, and Simon Zavarian. Today the party operates in Armenia, Artsakh and in countries where the Armenian diaspora is present. Nowadays it constitutes a minor party, and as of December 2018 was represented in two national parliaments with 7 seats in the National Assembly of Artsakh and three seats in the Parliament of Lebanon as part of the March 8 alliance.

Paruyr Hayrikyan Armenian politician and political activist

Paruyr Arshaviri Hayrikyan is an Armenian politician and former Soviet dissident. Hayrikyan is one of the founders and most active leaders of the democratic movement in the Soviet Union. He is also a writer and an accomplished composer. He is the author of several patriotic songs popular in Armenia and Armenian Diaspora.

Results

CandidatePartyVotes%
Levon Ter-Petrosyan Pan-Armenian National Movement 646,88851.3
Vazgen Manukyan National Democratic Union 516,12941.0
Sergey Badalyan Armenian Communist Party 79,3476.3
Ashot Manucharyan Scientific-Industrial Civic Union7,5290.6
None of the above10,0120.8
Invalid/blank votes48,681–
Total1,308,548100
Source: Nohlen et al.

Observation

The election was held on 22 September 1996, the day after the fifth anniversary of the independence of Armenia. [5] Both Ter-Petrosyan and Manukyan claimed victory. [6] Official results by the Central Electoral Commission recorded Ter-Petrosyan's victory in the first round with just above 50% of the total vote in favor of the incumbent. [7] The observation and monitoring organizations were mostly critical of the conduct of the election. [8] [4] [9] [10] [11] OSCE observation mission found "serious violations of the election law." [12]

Protests and aftermath

The National Assembly building in Yerevan Armenian National Assembly.jpg
The National Assembly building in Yerevan

Oppositional leader Vazgen Manukyan officially received 41% of the vote and denouncing them started mass demonstrations in the afternoon of 23 September claiming electoral fraud by Ter-Petrosyan's supporters. An estimated of 200,000 people gathered in Freedom Square to protest the election results. [13] On 25 September, the mass of 150,000 to 200,000 gathered in the same square. Manukyan led the demonstrators to Baghramyan Avenue, where the parliament building is located (the Electoral Commission was inside the building at the time). Later during the day, the protesters broke the fence surrounding the Armenian parliament and got into the building. They beat up the parliament speaker Babken Ararktsyan and vice-speaker Ara Sahakyan. [14] The security forces were brought into Yerevan to restore order. On the same day, Defence Minister Vazgen Sargsyan stated that "even if they [the opposition] win 100 percent of the votes, neither the Army nor the National Security and Interior Ministry would recognize such political leaders." [15] Sargsyan was later criticized by the West for such statement. Vazgen Sargsyan and Minister of National Security Serzh Sargsyan announced on the Public Television of Armenia that their respective agencies have prevented an attempted coup d'état. [14] The government sent tanks and troops to Yerevan to enforce the ban on rallies and demonstrations on 26 September 1996. [16] A number of opposition leaders were stripped off legal immunity. [16] Manukyan appealed to the Constitutional Court with the request for a new election, but it was rejected. [14]

Freedom Square, Yerevan square in Yerevan

The Freedom Square or Liberty Square, also known as Opera Square and Theatre Square until 1991, is a town square located in Kentron (Center) district of Yerevan, Armenia. The square is part of the Yerevan Opera Theater complex, located just to the south of the main opera building, between the opera park and the Swan lake. Along with the Republic Square, the Freedom Square is one of the two main squares in central Yerevan. It is bordered with four streets: Tumanyan Street, Teryan Street, Sayat Nova Avenue and Mashtots Avenue. The statues of writer Hovhannes Tumanyan and composer Alexander Spendiaryan are located in the square.

Baghramyan Avenue street in Yerevan

Marshal Baghramyan Avenue is an avenue in the central Kentron and the northwestern Arabkir districts of Yerevan, Armenia. The avenue is named after the Soviet Armenian commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union Hovhannes Baghramyan whose statue stands at the central part of the avenue. It was known as the Friendship Avenue between 1970 and 1995, as a tribute to the friendship of all Soviet Union member nations.

Babken Ararktsyan is an Armenian Politician.

Later developments

Few year after the election, Ter-Petrosyan's closest "power minister" Vano Siradeghyan claimed in an interview that Ter-Petrosyan fell into a three-month depression and that he wanted Vazgen Sargsyan and Siradeghyan to resign. According to him "the whole state apparatus was demoralized, paralyzed and no government was formed during [the ensuing] three months." [14] Despite these claims, in a February 1997 interview Ter-Petrosyan denied the rumors of the resignation of Vazgen Sargsyan stating that "rumors are the innocent thing–but in this case I think that they are extremely dangerous. I mean the resignation of Vazgen Sargsyan–scandals which–in my opinion–are not innocent. If it is misinformation–it is ill-intentioned misinformation." He accused the opposition led by Manukyan for being a power "for which political ambitions are more important than our army–the problem of Artsakh–the Armenian Cause–which they made their slogan." Ter-Petrosyan then accused the opposition in being irresponsible: "I don’t know the meaning of their existence–but [they] have made no positive contribution to the problem of Artsakh–be it certain individuals or political parties." [17]

Vano Siradeghyan is an Armenian politician and writer. He held several high-ranked positions in the 1990s. Between 1992 and 1996 he was Minister of Internal Affairs and Mayor of Yerevan from 1996 to 1998. After President Levon Ter-Petrosyan's resignation in February 1998, criminal charges were filed against him. Siradeghyan disappeared in April 2000 and since then he is wanted by the Interpol. Today, Siradeghyan is seen as one of the most influential and controversial figures of post-Soviet Armenia.

Since 1995 until his resignation in February 1998, Ter-Petrosyan was being criticized for his alleged authoritarian rule. [18] History Professor Stephan H. Astourian of the University of California, Berkeley suggests that after crushing popular protest by "military force, legal recourse had been perverted, and a president had been elected fraudulently." Astourian claims that the elections "tarnished Ter-Petrosian’s image, but the West did not dwell on the problem." as "a weak president has his uses." The West increased the pressure on the non-democratically elected president on the Karabakh issue. Astourian believes that "even more than his image in the West, it was the president’s own self-image, his “ego ideal,” that was tarnished." [14]

University of California, Berkeley Public university in California, USA

The University of California, Berkeley is a public research university in Berkeley, California. It was founded in 1868 and serves as the flagship institution of the ten research universities affiliated with the University of California system. Berkeley has since grown to instruct over 40,000 students in approximately 350 undergraduate and graduate degree programs covering numerous disciplines.

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References

Specific
  1. ↑ Nohlen, D, Grotz, F & Hartmann, C (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p. 329 ISBN   0-19-924958-X
  2. ↑ Nohlen, D, Grotz, F & Hartmann, C (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p. 336 ISBN   0-19-924958-X
  3. ↑ "1996 թվականի սեպտեմբեր [The September of 1996]". Azg Daily (in Armenian). 26 September 2002. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Armenia: After the 1996 Presidential Elections". United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 1 March 1997. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  5. ↑ Naegele, Jolyon (19 September 1996). "Armenia: Four Presidential Candidates Running In Sunday's Election". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty . Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  6. ↑ "Incumbent claims victory in Armenian elections". CNN. 23 September 1996. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  7. ↑ "Armenians Cast Ballots in Presidential Election". The New York Times . 23 September 1996. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  8. ↑ Astourian 2001, p. 43.
  9. ↑ "Armenian Chief Is Winner". The New York Times . 30 September 1996. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  10. ↑ Hughes 2002, p. 152.
  11. ↑ "Armenian Presidential Elections September 24, 1996 Final Report". Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights . Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  12. ↑ Columbus, Frank H. (1999). Central and Eastern Europe in transition. 3 (1999). Commack, NY: Nova Publishers. p. 107. ISBN   9781560726876.
  13. ↑ Astourian 2001, p. 44.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 Astourian 2001, p. 45.
  15. ↑ Human rights watch world report 1997: events of 1996. New York: Human Rights Watch. 1997. p. 198. ISBN   9781564322074.
  16. 1 2 Jeffries, Ian (2003). The Caucasus and Central Asian Republics at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century: A guide to the economies in transition. New York: Routledge. p. 57. ISBN   9780203358474.
  17. ↑ "Ter Petrosyan Denies Defense Minister's Resignation Rumors". Asbarez . 20 February 1997. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  18. ↑ Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia: 2003. Taylor & Francis. 2002. pp. 79–80. ISBN   9781857431377.
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