Presidential elections were held in Armenia on 22 September 1996.[1] The result was a victory for Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who received 51% of the vote. Turnout was 60%.[2]
Observation and monitoring organizations were mostly critical of the conduct of the elections.[5][4][6][7][8] The OSCE observation mission found "serious violations of the election law."[9]
Results
Following the elections, both Ter-Petrosyan and Manukyan claimed victory.[10] 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.[11]
Hrant Mikayelian, researcher at the Caucasus Institute, noted that in precincts where turnout was lower than 64% Manukyan received 49.6% of the votes, while Ter-Petrosyan received 41.1%. Mikayelian notes that while it is clear that widespread falsifications took place, it is impossible to say with certainty that Manukyan actually received over 50% of the votes in the first round.[12]
The leading opposition candidate Vazgen Manukyan officially received 41% of the vote. Claiming electoral fraud by the incumbent Ter-Petrosyan, Manukyan and his supporters began mass demonstrations in the afternoon of 23 September. An estimated of 200,000 people gathered in Freedom Square to protest the election results.[13] On 25 September, 150,000 to 200,000 of gathered in the same square in support of Manukyan. 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, Defense 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 this statement. Vazgen Sargsyan and Minister of National Security Serzh Sargsyan announced on public television 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 parliamentarians were stripped of legal immunity.[16] Manukyan appealed to the Constitutional Court with a request for a new election, but it was rejected.[14]
Later developments
In December 1998, Vano Siradeghyan, one of Ter-Petrosyan's closest allies and interior minister at the time of the 1996 election, claimed in an interview that Ter-Petrosyan fell into a three-month depression following the election and wanted him and Vazgen Sargsyan to resign.[17] According to Siradeghyan, "the whole state apparatus was demoralized, paralyzed and no government was formed during [the ensuing] three months."[14] Siradeghyan also appeared to admit that government had resorted to vote-rigging to secure Ter-Petrosyan's victory without a runoff election.[18][19] Siradeghyan left the position of interior minister in November 1996 and was appointed mayor of Yerevan, while Vazgen Sargsyan remained as defense minister after the election, despite rumors that he was to resign.[20]
From 1995 until his resignation in February 1998, Ter-Petrosyan was criticized for his alleged authoritarian rule.[21] 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]
References
^Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p. 329 ISBN0-19-924958-X
^ abJeffries, 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. ISBN9780203358474.
^Danielyan, Emil (9 January 1999). "Armenia: 1996 Presidential Election Was Rigged, Aide Suggests". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2013. There, he said, they received what he called "distressing news" from local election precincts that indicated Ter-Petrossian had not won a majority of votes, and that a second-round run-off would therefore be necessary.. According to Siradeghian, he then asked Defense Minister Vazgen Sarkisian, "Is Levon ready for a second round?" Sarkisian said: 'No, he is not ready.' And in fact, the second round did not take place."
