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Dutch election

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Dutch voters are casting their ballots today in an election that has been billed as a barometer of populism in Europe. DW will keep you informed of events as they happen throughout the day.

Welcome to our rolling coverage of the Dutch election, with the latest news, views and reactions to the divisive race.

  • Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s center-right VVD party is attempting to fend off populist leader Geert Wilders in parliamentary elections that have garnered international attention.
  • In a diplomatic spat Turkey has accused Netherlands of Nazi practices and of being responsible for the 1995 Srebrenica genocide, reportedly playing into the popularity of VVD.
  • Six main parties are predicted to enter parliament: the ruling VVD, Wilder’s Party for Freedom, the centrist D66, Green-Left, the Socialist Party and the social democrat Labor Party (PvdA).

All updates in Central European Time (CET)

14.07  Voter turnout is expected to be far higher than the last election. Pollsters Ipsos put voter turnout at 15 percent at 10:30 am (0930 GMT), up from 13 percent five years ago, with mild weather playing a part.

In The Hague, the seat of government, the figure was above 23 percent at noon, up from 19 percent in 2012. High figures were recorded in Rotterdam and Utrecht as well.

12.52 National daily “Der Volksrant” is reporting high voter turnouts at several municipalities. In Enschede at 11:00 20 percent of eligible voters had already cast their vote, compared to 16 percent five years ago. In Rotterdam at 10:00 13 percent had voted compared to 10 percent last time.

12.35 Send more boats! Voters (and boaters) have descended en masse to a polling booth on the newly built island of Marker Wadden for their first chance at visiting the man-made island. Access to the ecological project is normally restricted.

Armenian Election: Armenia ex-defense minister: I worked well, served my army well

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I worked well, served my army well.

Former Defense Minister of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan, who heads the Ohanyan-Raffi-Oskanian (ORO) alliance’s proportional representation list for the forthcoming parliamentary election in the country, on Tuesday said the abovementioned at an assembly with voters in Yeghegnadzor town.

He added that the leaders of this bloc do not need an official post, and that they wish to change the situation in Armenia and the people will see the respective improvements every day, for 365 days.

Subsequently, the ORO leaders and supporters headed for Vayk town.

“I don’t want to say that we made no mistakes in our work,” stated Ohanyan. “But the members of our [political] team have achieved some success.”

Also, he expressed a conviction that the incumbent authorities can be changed through elections.

The ORO bloc comprises former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan, and ex-FMs Raffi Hovannisian and Vartan Oskanian.

The parliamentary election in Armenia will be conducted on April 2.

We must build strong country to prevent young generation’s migration – Karen Karapetyan

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The Armenian authorities are willing to build the kind of country that will be powerful and prosperous enough not to let the future generations think about leaving, Prime Minister Karapetyan said today in a public speech delivered as part of the ruling Republican Party’s pre-electoral campaign.
“We are conscious of the heavy yoke and burden we are undertaking, and demonstrate our responsibility and concern,” he said, addressing voters in the town Sisian (Syunik region).

Highlighting the importance of the human capital, the premier further called for strong efforts towards enabling people to fully realize their potential.
“It is our duty to create a favorable atmosphere for the working person,” he said, admitting at the same time that the state administration system is not yet fully accomplished in Armenia.

 

 

Armenian Election Update: Armenia’s YELK bloc members meet U.S. ambassador ahead of elections

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>Members of YELK bloc Aram Sargsyan, Edmon Marukyan, Artak Zeynalyan and Alen Simonyan on Monday, March 6 met the U.S. ambassador to Armenia Richard M. Mills.

At the meeting, a number of issues concerning the upcoming parliamentary elections were discussed.

A total of nine parties and alliances are participating in elections to the National Assembly, slated for April 2.

The sides dwelled upon the launch of election campaign and other political issues.

Ambassador Mills said it is important to have Armenian voters believe that their voice counts.

“I join you to refute rumors suggesting that video cameras and identification technology have been installed in polling stations to track how people vote,” he said.

“I urge all Armenians to go to the polls on April 2 for the sake of the country’s future.”

Read also:Armenia elections: YELQ program taps army reform, EU association

Armenian Parliamentary elections: Gallup International Association presents preliminary findings of opinion poll

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Armenian representation of the Gallup International Association has conducted an opinion polling to gauge voting intentions in the run-up to the April 2 Parliamentary elections.

Aram Navasardyan, Director of Gallup International Association Office in Armenia told a press conference today, saying the opinion poll was conducted among 1,146 respondents from February 23 to March 2 in the territory of Armenia.

According to the results, 26,4 % of the respondents said they would vote for “Tsarukyan” bloc when asked which political party of bloc they would you vote for if the parliamentary elections were held on forthcoming Sunday.

According to the survey, 22,8 percent of Armenians stated their intention to vote for the ruling Republican party (RPA), 4,3 percent – for “Exit” bloc, 3,9 percent – for ARF-Dashnaktsutyun, 3,4 percent – Free Democrats, 2,7 percent – “Armenian Renaissance”, 2,6 – ANC-HZhK, while 1 percent of the respondents stated desire to give their vote to the Communist Party.

14,1 percent declined to respond, while 27 percent were not precise what political force they preferred.

Speaking of the reason beyond the high approval rating of “Tsarukyan” bloc, Navasardyan said. “In our previous opinion poll conducted in November, there was a slight difference between the two dominant forces in Armenian provinces where respondents were mainly inclined to vote for “Tsarukyan” bloc, while the Republican party had a higher rating in capital Yerevan. The data are not that unexpected since the difference is only three percent which may change depending on the course of the election campaign,” Navasardyan said, declining to predict which direction the trend might go.

To the speaker’s estimates, in the opinion polls for the upcoming election, 4 political forces, – namely “Tsarukyan” bloc, RPA, “Exit” and ARF-Dashnaktsutyun are deemed to overcome the election threshold and enter parliament, while free Liberals have a good chance as well.

Gallup data also reveal that 59,9 percent of the respondents said they would definitely participate in the elections, 25,7 – likely participate, 4,3 – likely not participate, and 7,1 percent said they would not participate in the vote.

Based on survey data around 50-60 percent turnout is expected in the forthcoming elections.

Armenian Election Update: Free Democrats to seek Armenia’s westernization after elections

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The Free Democrats Party of Armenia promises to promote the country’s westernization when elected to the parliament.

Parliamentary elections in Armenia will be held on April 2, with nine parties and blocs running overall. MP Khachatur Kokobelyan tops the Free Democrats Party list, followed by MP Hrant Bagratyan, former lawmakers Styopa Safaryan and Anahit Bakhshyan, as well as Masis Ayvazyan.

The party’s election program has 10 points, with struggle against illegal turnover high on the agenda: according to official data, shadow turnover accounts for 30% of Armenia’s total output.

The Free Democrats are sure that the struggle, if successful, will help double health, education and defense spending.

Also, the party aims to fight corruption, securing from $600 mln to $1 billion additional entries to the state budget.

Another of the party’s provisions sets to reduce unemployment and poverty to 10.4% and 15%, respectively.

Besides, the program seeks to reform the Armenian army, find a peaceful settlement to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict by having Artsakh’s independence recognized.

The party pledges to double the amounts allocated to education and science, create adequate conditions for the development of small and medium-sized businesses, introduce tax incentives and implement a number of reforms in border communities, including higher allowance rates for child care.

Also, the Free Democrats eye a hike in pensions, as well as minimum and average salary.

Armenian parliamentary election campaign to kick off on March 5

Read also: Armenia elections: YELQ program taps army reform, EU association

NA elections: ORO’s program vows tax holiday, abolition of monopolies

Security and Progress: RPA launches election campaign

Armenian parliamentary election campaign to kick off on March 5

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Tomorrow, on March 5 election campaign kicks off in Armenia with seven political blocs and parties to contest for the upcoming parliamentary elections set on April 2. Panorama.am reporter talked to the representatives of the political forces participating in the elections to learn their campaign plans and strategy.

Anahit Bakhshyan, running for the parliamentary elections in the proportional list of the Free Liberals party, informed Panorama.am the political force’s campaign will start with presentation of the election program. “The campaign will then proceed with each of us meeting the people in certain areas. I will visit Shengavit and Malatia administrative district, while Anzhela Khachatryan will head for Tavush region to meet with constituents. The head of the Free Liberals party Khachatur Kokobelyan will also be actively engaged in meetings with electors,” Mrs. Bakhshyan informed.

The Armenian Renaissance party is set start its campaign tomorrow as well with the press conference of the running candidates. Press secretary at the party Edgar Arakelyan informed the presentation of the party program is scheduled for the upcoming Monday, declining further comments which districts the party intends to start from to meet with electors.

Tsarukyan bloc is about to start its campaign from Tavush region. “Number of meetings are scheduled in different communities of the province, in Berd town with nearby settlements. In total 10 campaign groups are to agitate headed by the deputies of the Prosperous Armenia party. The leader of the political alliance Gagik Tsarukyan plans to visit Tavush on March 7 to meet with residents of larger communities,” press secretary of the bloc leader Iveta Tonoyan told, adding the campaign is launched in Tavush considering also the fact it is bordering province.

Armenian National Congress-HZhK bloc will start its campaign on March 5 at 12 in the bloc’s headquarters to present the election program and the agitation material, election posters, etc. The election campaign of the Ruling Republican party will start at Dinamo Sport complex with inner party event that will be closed for the media.

“Ohanyan-Raffi-Oskanian” (ORO) bloc will start its meetings with the constituents in Yerevan. The bloc representatives will visit the Victory Park, then Moscow Cinema House to present the alliance political program. ARF-Dashnaktsutyun plans to introduce its pre-electoral platform with the participation of its candidates on March 5, while Armenia Communist Party plans to start its campaign from Ijevan town of Tavush province with follow-up meetings with Shamshadin residents and people in Kotayk region.

To remind, earlier members of “Exit” bloc held a press conference in Yerevan unveiling plans to conduct a fundraising event on March 5 with the proceeds to be directed to covering the costs of the election campaign.

 

Source Panorama.am

Civil Society Organizations in Armenia Call for Greater Political Participation of Diaspora

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With this open letter we, a group of civil society and human rights organizations from Armenia appeal to Diaspora Armenians – individuals, organizations and non-formal groups – to take an active stance in the political life of Armenia.

We have always felt the great love of Diaspora for our country and are indeed grateful for immense and tireless support that our compatriots abroad were rendering to the people of Armenia throughout many years. However, since Armenia’s independence in 1991, we have lived – and you have witnessed – the heart-breaking conditions of our country: poverty, depopulation, and the slow surrender of our national sovereignty. Continuously rigged elections and political corruption have concentrated almost all socio economic power in the hands of an unrepresentative oligarchic elite. Natural resources are depleted to serve short-term and small group interests; poverty and social injustice grow in parallel with the remarkably improving welfare of a number of decision-makers. Civic and political rights of citizens are systematically violated, peaceful assemblies against the injustice are brutally cracked down and the controlled judiciary fails to ensure fair judgments, increasing the number of political prisoners. After all, the 4-day war of April 2016 revealed how the uncontrolled and unpunished corruption exhausts the resources of the Armenian Army and threatens the security of Armenia.

Twenty-five years after the Independence, we can no longer consider these conditions to be the birth-pains of a new republic. Though it may not seem apparent upon first glance, the lack of democracy underpins nearly all other national issues. Indeed, democracy is at the heart of nation-building in the 21st century.

We, the undersigned, have worked and fought tirelessly for rule of law and democracy in Armenia. We have developed the infrastructure and activated our citizens in monitoring elections – the single most fundamental process of democracy. But our resources have been limited.

We are writing to tell you that we need you. Not your donations or remittances, but you – your spirit and physical presence in Armenia – here on the ground, at the voting precincts – engaging, observing, and taking ownership of your role in this historic quest for Armenian democracy.

The upcoming Parliamentary Elections are of paramount importance for the country. As a result of the Constitutional Referendum of 2015, which was itself marred by rampant corruption, Armenia now begins its transition to a parliamentary republic. This means there will be no further presidential elections, and the upcoming Parliamentary Elections will decide the future of Armenia.

We urge all the Diaspora organizations, institutions and active individuals to join us in our endeavors and render your support to promote justice, human rights, free and fair elections, accountable governance, civil rights and dignity. Get in touch with us, come to us and let’s walk this path together.

The future of Armenia is democratic, and that future begins today, with your participation and solidarity.

Join us!

Find out how to join our election observation efforts by visiting www.citizenobserver.am or emailing info@citizenobserver.am. We encourage all Armenians of the Diaspora to join, regardless of age, citizenship, political affiliation, or fluency in Armenian.

Signed,

Transparency International Anticorruption Center

Journalists Club “Asparez”

Europe in Law Association

Helsinki Citizens Assembly Vanadzor

Goris Journalists Club

Centre for Community Mobilization and Support

“Sose” NGO

National Young Women’s Christian Association of Armenia

Northern Branch of Eurasia Partnership Foundation

“Peace Dialogue” NGO

Women’s Resource Center

“Public Information and Need of Knowledge” NGO

Foundation against the Violation of Law

“Guarantee” Center of Civil Society

Lori Citizens’ Union

“LogoS” NGO”.

Armenia: 9 political forces registered to struggle for parliamentary mandate

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YEREVAN. – Armenia’s Central Electoral Commission registered proportional lists of all political forces willing to participate in the parliamentary elections set for April 2 .

Earlier five parties and 4 blocks submitted applications to participate in the parliamentary elections.

RPA, ARF, Armenian Revival, Free Democrats, the Communist Party of Armenia as well as Tsarukyan alliance, Way Out alliance, the People’s Party and the ANC block, Ohanyan-Raffi-Oskanian alliance have been registered to struggle for the parliamentary mandate.

Due to the lack of necessary papers, the Commission rejected registration of two candidates from the national list of Ohanyan-Raffi-Oskanian alliance – Vladimir Arakelyan and Samvel Melikyan.

Le Pen blasts EU, NATO, praises Trump

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(DW) French National Front leader Marine Le Pen has sharply criticised multi-lateral governance and praised the new Trump administration. She also called for a new approach towards Russia, Syria and African nations.

France’s far-right presidential front runner Marine Le Pen sounded a full-throated rejection of global trade deals and multilateral governance, defending in soaring terms Thursday the importance of cultural identity and national independence.

In a keynote foreign policy speech in Paris, Le Pen offered withering criticism of the European Union and NATO and decried what she essentially described as Western meddling in countries like Iraq, Syria, Libya, Russia and Turkey that she claimed have increased instability, broken bilateral promises and betrayed the wishes of the people.

“I don’t want to promote a French or a Western system. I don’t want to promote a universal system,” Le Pen told a packed audience of reporters, diplomats and supporters in an elegant conference hall near the Champs Elysees. “To the contrary, I want to promote a respect of cultures and peoples.”

Le Pen’s lofty discourse offered a stark counterpoint to the Front National’s more abrasive grassroots image as an anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, populist party. She described France under her governance as a champion of “oppressed people, which speaks out for the voiceless and carries something powerful and great.”

She also took no questions and continued calmly on after a bare-chested Femen protester sought to interrupt her before being carried, still shouting, out of the room.

Scandal over EU funds

A pair of polls out Thursday confirmed Le Pen remains the favored candidate in a presidential race that has been full of surprises, despite being mired in an ongoing scandal over the alleged misuse of European Union funds to pay for several Front National staff. Still, almost every survey to date shows her winning the first round of presidential elections in April, but failing to prevail in a May runoff.

For 48-year-old Le Pen, Thursday’s speech was the second chance in a week to burnish her foreign policy credentials. European leaders have snubbed her, but she had better luck earlier this week in Lebanon, where she met with the country’s president and prime minister. She also stirred controversy by cancelling a meeting with the Lebanese grand mufti after refusing to wear a headscarf.

“Going to Lebanon showed she could look presidential,” says Philippe Moreau Defarges, senior fellow at the French Institute of International Relations in Paris. Noting the country was both a former French colony and held an important Christian community – a key theme for the National Front – he added, “it allowed Mrs. Le Pen to look like both a patriot and a Christian.”

Old and new themes

Le Pen’s address touched on some familiar themes, as she railed against the European Union, NATO and free trade. But she also waded into new territory – or at least offered new nuances – as she described forging a new relationship with Africa based on “frankness, respect and mutual cooperation.”