Armenia’s two leading opposition groups blamed the authorities on Friday for
what they see as disproportionately high prices of election campaign
advertisements that have been set by the local broadcasters loyal to President
Robert Kocharian.

Under Armenian law, every party or alliance running for parliament can air up to
60 minutes of free-of-charge ads on state television and 120 minutes on state
radio during campaigning for the May 12 parliamentary elections. The Armenian
Public Television and Radio is allowed to charge them for every minute of extra
air.

Its H1 TV channel’s per-minute fee for campaign ads has already been set at
80,000 drams ($220), up from $120 it charged in the run-up to the previous
legislative polls. Most of the private networks will charge even more, despite
boasting smaller audiences and being less accessible than H1. Their fees start
from 100,000 drams ($280) per minute and are much higher than the cost of
televised business advertising that can be as low as 15,000 drams per minute.

Leaders of the opposition Artarutyun (Justice) alliance and the National Unity
Party claimed that the huge difference is the result of a deliberate government
effort to keep the airwaves off limits for Kocharian’s cash-strapped opponents.
“They are trying to make sure that only those who have made fortunes by illegal
means can have access to TV air,” charged Artarutyun’s Grigor Harutiunian.

“Even making 10 drams requires a lot of suffering in Armenia,” complained
Artashes Geghamian, the AMK leader. “So imagine how much unearned revenue you
must have to spend 80,000 drams on communicating with your people for a single
minute.”

“This shows just how terrified the regime is by the opposition discourse,” he
said.

The Armenian opposition’s campaign expenditures have always paled in comparison
with those of the main pro-Kocharian parties. The largest of them, the
Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), has many wealthy individuals among its senior
members and has never lacked cash. Also boasting vast financial resources is the
Prosperous Armenia Party of tycoon Gagik Tsarukian. In addition, Prosperous
Armenia as well as another pro-Kocharian party, the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), each control a TV station.

Dashnaktsutyun’s parliamentary leader, Hrayr Karapetian, claimed that money
should not be a problem for the opposition heavyweights if they indeed have a
large following. “I think that those parties that enjoy popularity will also be
able to receive large donations to their campaign budgets,” he said.

Karapetian’s Republican opposite number, Galust Sahakian, said that instead of
complaining, the opposition leaders make more campaign trips and meet as many
voters as possible. “That won’t cost them much,” he said.

Sahakian also made the point that those who lack money should not engage in
politics in the first place. “If you have good ideas but no political or
financial capital, you’d better write books instead,” he said.

By Astghik Bedevian