By Harry Tamrazian in Prague

A senior U.S. diplomat criticized Armenia’s leaders on Monday for restricting
opposition access to electronic media, suggesting that they fear losing power
and the resulting material benefits in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Julie Finley, the U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, was specifically concerned about the record-high prices
of political advertising that were set by Armenia’s leading broadcasters
recently. She also questioned the Armenian authorities’ stated commitment to
creating a level playing field for all election contenders.

Leaders of the Armenian opposition say the campaign ad rates, varying from
80,000 drams to 130,000 drams ($355) per minute, are part of a broader
government effort to bar them from using television in the run-up to the May 12
elections. However, the TV channels, all of them loyal to the government, have
denied this, insisting that their campaign fees are market-based and were not
dictated by the authorities.

Finley was clearly unconvinced by such assurances as she spoke to RFE/RL during
a visit to its headquarters in Prague. “Whoever has the power to do so, they’d
better lower their rates,” she said. “I think it’s very odd to me that leaders
in countries [like Armenia] are so afraid to make media available or
transparency more prevalent. It says only one thing to me: that the leaders are
afraid of losing their jobs and maybe the opportunity, just perhaps, of salting
away some money in bank accounts in some place.”

“If you’re not afraid, then why not let this stuff open up, let the rates down,
maybe create something where there aren’t even any rates, maybe have time on
Saturdays and Sundays when there is three hours of free airtime,” Finley added.
“There are all kinds of things you can do if you really want to have fair
elections.”

Armenian law entitles parties and electoral blocs running for parliament to only
60 minutes of free airtime on state television and 120 minutes on state radio.
Opposition parties also complain about what they see as a biased coverage of
their activities by the TV stations that rarely air criticism of President
Robert Kocharian and his government.

Finely warned that equal campaigning opportunities are as important for the
freedom and fairness of the Armenian elections as the voting and counting of
ballots. “They [the authorities] refuse to understand that it is about the
weeks, many weeks, before the election day, that everything that goes on in that
period is as important as how the election day runs,” she complained. “And all
of those things have to do with freedom of assembly, freedom of media. Do they
all have access to the television? Do they all have access to the radio? Do they
have the ability to gather supporters in a town square?”

Visiting Yerevan last October, Finley was assured by Armenian officials that the
2007 elections will be more democratic than the ones held in the past. The trip
was overshadowed by Kocharian’s failure to receive her, ostensibly due to his
busy schedule. The Vienna-based diplomat was “very, very disappointed” with some
commentators interpreted as a snub.

But Finley insisted on Monday that she does not think she was shunned by the
Armenian leader. “He couldn’t work it into his schedule,” she said. “It wasn’t
because I was insisting on meeting him or wanted to meet him or had expressed an
interest in meeting him.”