A decree signed this week by President Robert Kocharyan places the Parliamentary elections on May 12.

Now that the date has been settled, the over-riding question remains whether these elections – unlike any in independent Armenia – can be fairly executed.

Garegin Azaryan, chairman of the Central Electoral Commission believes the new electoral code gives an opportunity to hold free, fair and transparent elections.

“This year’s election will be better than the previous one, because we have a computer network and the process of summing up the results will be faster. The votes will be counted by computer and we will not ad, subtract or count any figure, because everything will be done by the computer,” says Azaryan.

Meanwhile, Vazgen Manukyan, the leader of the oppositional AZhM (National Democratic Union) Party is stubbornly confident these elections, too, will be fraudulent.

“All those who did their best to falsify the results of the last elections have received positions, no one has been punished. On the contrary, they have been rewarded. Taken this into account, how do they dare to say the upcoming election will be most fair?” asks Manukyan.

Last week the representatives of the oppositional forces met the US Deputy Vice State Secretary, American co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk group Matthew Bryza and shared their opinions on the upcoming election in Armenia.

“Bryza said the adoption of the new code seems to be a step forward; I disagree with the assessment. Elections are falsified independent of the code,” says Manukyan.

Artak Zeynalyan of the Political Council of Hanrapetutyun (Republic) Party has also shared his party’s concerns about the falsifications with Bryza.

“We brought proper arguments supporting the idea that the changes in the electoral code will just facilitate the frauds in the coming election and will make them less discernible,” says Zeynalyan.

Last week the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted Resolution No. 1532 (2007) on Armenia’s progress in fulfilling its obligations and commitments. Item 4.2 of the resolution says:

“The Assembly particularly affirms the organization of the parliamentary and the presidential elections planned for spring 2007 and 2008. The Assembly states with disappointment none of the elections held in Armenia since its membership to the Council of Europe in 2001 have been recognized fully free and fair. It is a matter of utmost importance to have the next elections truly correspond to European standards of free and fair elections as a proof for Armenia’s progress on the way of democratization and European integration.”

This election, Armenia faces financial penalty, should the system fail to meet democratic standards. Receipt of $235 million Millennium Challenge award will be questionable in the case of vote fraud.

“I don’t believe the admonition by the Council of Europe or the threat of closing up the program can hinder our authorities from the frauds aimed at its self-reproduction. The most important thing for them is to hold the power and it doesn’t matter if the programs of rural development are lost,” says political analyst Aghasi Yenokyan.

Politicians and ordinary citizens lack hopes for having free elections alike.

The recent survey held jointly by the Armenian Sociological Association and the Gallup Institute among 1,200 residents of Armenia has shown 69 percent of the respondents are confident the elections will be neither free nor fair, while 61 percents believe the authorities in Armenia undertake no sufficient measures to prevent the falsifications in elections.

In an interview to the Public Television at the end of the last year Kocharyan stated:

“I have more right for being committed to demanding and have the right to demand that the elections are free and fair and that no frauds take place.”

However it is still unclear who will be responsible for having the free, fair elections without frauds. Everybody still demands.