1996 Armenian presidential election

none January 2021 Armenia presidential 1991 Armenian presidential election 1991 1998 Armenian presidential election 1998 22 September 1996 130x130px Левон Тер-Петросян.jpg Levon Ter-Petrosyan Pan-Armenian National Movement 646,888 51.34% Vazgen Manukyan.jpg 130 95 135 27 0 Vazgen Manukyan National Democratic Union (Armenia) 516,129 40.97% 3x4.svg Sergey Badalyan Armenian Communist Party 79,347 6.30% President Levon Ter-Petrosyan Pan-Armenian National Movement Levon Ter-Petrosyan Pan-Armenian National Movement 1996 Armenian presidential election result map.svg Result by province Presidential elections were held in Armenia on 22 September 1996.Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p. 329 0-19-924958-X The result was a victory for Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who received 51% of the vote. Turnout was 59%.Nohlen et al., p. 336 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 defense 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."1996 թվականի սեպտեմբեր [September 1996] http://www.azg.am/AM/2002092604 7 April 2013 Azg Daily 26 September 2002 hy 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.Armenia: After the 1996 Presidential Elections http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a6c014.html 21 July 2016 1 March 1997 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Conduct Observation and monitoring organizations were mostly critical of the conduct of the elections.Astourian Stephan H. From Ter-Petrosian to Kocharian: Leadership Change in Armenia http://iseees.berkeley.edu/bps/publications/2000_04-asto.pdf University of California, Berkeley 11 January 2013 2001 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20130620084455/http://iseees.berkeley.edu/bps/publications/2000_04-asto.pdf 20 June 2013 43Armenian Chief Is Winner https://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/30/world/armenian-chief-is-winner.html?n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fT%2fTer-Petrossian%2c%20Levon 12 April 2013 The New York Times 30 September 1996Hughes James R. Ethnicity and territory in the former Soviet Union: regions in conflict 2002 Cass London 9780714682105 152Armenian Presidential Elections September 24, 1996 Final Report http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/armenia/14149 Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights 11 April 2013 The OSCE observation mission found "serious violations of the election law."Columbus Frank H. Central and Eastern Europe in transition. 3 (1999) 1999 Nova Publishers Commack, NY 9781560726876 107 Results Following the elections, both Ter-Petrosyan and Manukyan claimed victory.Incumbent claims victory in Armenian elections http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9609/23/newsbriefs/ 7 April 2013 23 September 1996 CNN 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.Armenians Cast Ballots in Presidential Election https://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/23/world/armenians-cast-ballots-in-presidential-election.html 12 April 2013 The New York Times 23 September 1996 Levon Ter-Petrosyan Pan-Armenian National Movement 646888 Vazgen Manukyan National Democratic Union 516129 Sergey Badalyan Armenian Communist Party 79347 Ashot Manucharyan Scientific-Industrial Civic Union 7529 None of the above 10012 48681 2210189 Nohlen et al. Analysis Hrant Mikayelian, researcher at the Caucasus Institute, noted that in precincts where turnout was lower than 64%, Manukyan received 50% of the vote while Ter-Petrosyan received 41%. 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 vote in the first round.Если бы выборы в Армении были честными? Альтернативный подсчет. 1990-е гг. https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/blogs/83781/posts/35768 kavkaz-uzel.eu https://web.archive.org/web/20190629162530/https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/blogs/83781/posts/35768 29 June 2019 ru 16 December 2018 Protests and aftermath 1996 Armenian protests 23 September 1996 – 2 October 1996 Armenia * Alleged electoral fraud during the 1996 Armenian presidential election Corruption * Resignation of President Levon Ter-Petrosyan New general elections * Protests suppressed by force Demonstrationsthumb|300px|The National Assembly building in Yerevan 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 200,000 people gathered in Freedom Square to protest the election results.Astourian 2001 44 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.Astourian 2001 45 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."Human rights watch world report 1997: events of 1996 1997 Human Rights Watch New York 9781564322074 198 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.Astourian 2001 45 The government sent tanks and troops to Yerevan to enforce the ban on rallies and demonstrations on 26 September 1996. A number of opposition parliamentarians were stripped of legal immunity.Jeffries Ian The Caucasus and Central Asian Republics at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century: A guide to the economies in transition 2003 Routledge New York 9780203358474 57 Manukyan appealed to the Constitutional Court with a request for a new election, but it was rejected.Astourian 2001 45 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.Danielyan Emil 9 January 1999 Armenia: 1996 Presidential Election Was Rigged, Aide Suggests Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty https://www.rferl.org/a/1090270.html live 11 April 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20150924133449/http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1090270.html 24 September 2015 According to Siradeghyan, "the whole state apparatus was demoralized, paralyzed and no government was formed during [the ensuing] three months."Astourian 2001 45 Siradeghyan also appeared to admit that government had resorted to vote-rigging to secure Ter-Petrosyan's victory without a runoff election.Danielyan Emil 9 January 1999 Armenia: 1996 Presidential Election Was Rigged, Aide Suggests Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty https://www.rferl.org/a/1090270.html live 11 April 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20150924133449/http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1090270.html 24 September 2015 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."Danielyan Emil 1999-01-09 Armenia: Ter-Petrossian Criticizes Charges Against Old Ally https://www.rferl.org/a/1090434.html live https://web.archive.org/web/20191209234235/http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1090434.html 2019-12-09 2021-09-20 RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty en 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.Ter Petrosyan Denies Defense Minister's Resignation Rumors http://asbarez.com/33035/ter-petrosyan-denies-defense-ministers-resignation-rumors/ 6 April 2013 Asbarez 20 February 1997 From 1995 until his resignation in February 1998, Ter-Petrosyan was criticized for his alleged authoritarian rule.Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia: 2003 2002 Taylor & Francis 9781857431377 79–80 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."Astourian 2001 45 References External links hy Ի՞նչ տեղի ունեցավ 1996–ի սեպտեմբերի 25-ին Armenia Presidential election Category:Presidential elections in Armenia Category:1990s in Armenian politics