Transcript of the Press Conference of
U.S. Ambassador John Evans and USAID Mission Director Robin Phillips
October 27, 2005

Ambassador Evans: Good afternoon. Welcome, everyone. It’s very nice to see you here at the U.S. Embassy. I know everyone is thinking that one month from today the referendum on constitutional amendments will take place. But what I want to talk about today, what I want to announce today, is a package of measures that we are proposing to help Armenia have free and fair elections in 2007 and 2008.

In our view, the elections in 2007 and 2008 provide a golden opportunity for Armenia to reaffirm its course towards democracy and overcome some of the problems of the past.  It’s nothing new that we support free and fair elections. That is of course the case and it goes for all kinds of elections. But we believe it is particularly important for Armenia’s future that the elections - legislative in 2007, presidential in 2008 - be free, fair, transparent and perceived as such by the international community and most importantly by Armenian voters themselves. So, over the summer, the past summer, we have developed a comprehensive package of election related assistance ranging from support to develop the national voter registry, to assistance in developing voter education campaigns. And today we want to share with you the ideas that we have for helping Armenian in this regard. And in fact we will pass out to you a one page summary of what those measures are.

But before we do that I just want to make a couple more points. First of all, we have previewed this package of assistance measures at very high levels of the government of Armenia and the response has been positive. So, we intend to get to work. We have about 18 months between now and the 2007 elections. So, we believe that in these 18 months a lot can be accomplished. And I’d like also just to mention that this package of measures has been approved by the U.S. Congress and funded at a level something over $6 million.

But in conclusion, I have one more point to make as well. And that is that we – the United States – will be having our mid-term elections, our congressional elections, in 2006. So, we think that we can also use that event as of a way of sharing experience with election officials, political party representatives and representatives of the media. And finally, one very important point: All of these measures which we are proposing are aimed at supporting the democratic process, not individual parties or candidates. Helping develop democratic institutions is something that we have already been doing in Armenia for 10 years. So, this is not a new departure for us, but it is a recognition of the golden opportunity that Armenia has to hold fully free and fair elections the next time in 2007 and 2008.

Now, I would like to discuss these measures in a little bit more detail. I actually think it might be useful if we could distribute the one page summary of what these measure are, and I’ll just run through it quickly with you and if you have any questions I’ll be happy to take your questions. As Taguhi is passing this around, I’ll just begin and you of course can take this and study it at your leisure. You will notice that at the very top of the list is the question of helping with the voter registration lists. Clearly this is a basic question that needs to be addressed. You’ll see that we also have some things we can do to help with the administration of elections. And the third item is to help with making sure that voters understand information for voters.  The forth item has to do with electoral adjudication in all democracies. There are sometimes disputes about the results of elections and judges need to know how to deal with those disputes, what the laws are, and how deal with those situations. Democracy does not just mean a good election day. It needs to be supported by a democratic political culture and so we have some things we want to do in that area. And between elections we think it is very important to have a way of knowing what is on people’s minds and so we would like to strengthen the capacity of organizations to carry out scientific and trustworthy polls to give feedback not only to the government, but to the media and to society at large.  For some years already we have been working with political parties. Political parties play an important role in every democracy. If political parties are working well, they will develop philosophies and programs concentrating on issues of importance to voters. So, we plan to continue our work with political parties and again I stress without playing any favorites.  Now, on the actual election day it is important to have election monitoring and we do support that and there are some things we can do in this area as well. And last but not least, there is an important role for you, the media. It’s very important that the media play their full role in a political campaign and in coverage of elections. So, we have some ideas, some training opportunities, maybe even for some of you here in this room - for journalists and people involved in the media.

So, these are the measures that we have in mind. I want also to stress that these various activities will be carried out in a very transparent way - there is no plotting or second agenda here. We want to support the democratic process in Armenia. We think we have a golden opportunity to do so and that Armenia has a golden opportunity to achieve yet another stage in its progress towards a full democracy. We would be glad to take any questions. I think you may now have had a chance to look at this piece of paper. I have with me here Mr. Robin Phillips, the Director of USAID. Many of these programs will be carried out under contracts between USAID and implementing agencies. And I also want to note that some of the programs will be carried out by the Public Affairs Section of our Embassy - Kim Hargan ,Liz Zentos, and their colleagues.  So, if you have questions, please.

"Haykakan Zhamanak" newspaper: Mr. Ambassador, it is known that the United States, if not has supported, then has welcomed revolutions in the former Soviet countries. President Bush has welcomed the revolution in our neighboring Georgia. And now does the fact that Ambassador Evans, representing the United States, is holding a press conference a month before the referendum on constitutional amendments and is talking about the 2007 and 2008 elections – does this mean that the United State excludes the possibility of turning the referendum into a revolution? Or does the United States not want to turn it into a revolution?

Ambassador Evans: I think I can make this very clear. The United States does not favor revolutions in the streets. Revolution is a product of failure. We favor evolution. We believe that the way to choose leaders is at the ballot box, not in the streets. I can add to that, of course, that choosing leaders at the ballot box should be done in free and fair elections and that is exactly why we are putting such stress on free and fair elections for Armenia in 2007 and 2008.

"Ambion" newspaper: What is your opinion of the level of democracy today in Armenia? Do you think that all the means and assistance provided by the U.S. Government to Armenia for strengthening democratic developments has been used properly?

Ambassador Evans: As I said earlier, we have been rendering assistance in this area for about ten years. It’s not easy to build a democracy, and I have said many times before that even mature democracies like our own experiences problems from time to time. It’s hard work. And so, I don’t think any democracy is perfect. Every country has its own history, its own culture, its own economic and social and other problems. So, no democracy is complete or perfect. Every democracy can be better, but we believe that good progress is being made and we are not just going to talk about it, we are actually announcing today that we plan to do some things to help Armenia on that road.

RFE/RL: How effective will this program be, taking into account the fact that similar programs have been carried out in Armenia already , be they educational programs or other ones, if there is no a political will to conduct free and fair elections? What if on election day there are violations, stuffing of ballot boxes, or even proxies, who were educated as part of this program, selling votes?

Ambassador Evans: First of all, let me say this. There have been some lessons learned over the last few years, precisely in this part of the world, and I think it should be clear to everyone - officials, non-officials, voters - it should be clear that, as the Speaker of Parliament put it, the time for falsification has passed. And I think certainly in my conversations with people, I am more optimistic today that, as I have said, there is a golden opportunity for Armenia to have free and fair elections in 2007 and 2008. And what we are doing is not something totally new, but it is an intensification of what we are doing with a very clear strategic goal. So, that’s why I believe that indeed with political will, with the cooperation of everybody we worked with and with our own technical experts who we will bring in, we can make a difference.

May I make a suggestion for you and for me? If you have shorter questions, I will have shorter answers.

"Ayb-Fe" weekly:  I’ll try to be short. One of the conditions of democracy, especially with regard to such important issues as the referendum, is that the opposition and authorities should approach the referendum together, meaning there should be a relevant political atmosphere for this to happen. Do you think since there is no such atmosphere, the referendum is doomed to fail?

Ambassador Evans: I think that certainly this is a question of context and a question of atmosphere. It certainly helps if everybody agrees on what the rules of the game are. The basic thing that a society has to agree on is that the proper way to make decisions for the society is to go to the ballot box as prescribed by the law and vote on those issues, whether it’s choosing new leaders or changing the constitution; vote on those issues that are important to the society.

"Hayots Ashkhar" newspaper: Mr. Ambassador, you have expressed several times your support for constitutional reforms and you were even criticized for interfering in domestic issues. Are there any specific measures you are implementing to assist the constitutional reforms?

Ambassador Evans: First of all, if you read carefully what I said, I did feel it necessary to say what the United States' view of these amendments is. And we have said that we believe they are a positive step. In the very next breath, I have always said that the decision rests with the Armenian voters and that is exactly the case.

Kentron TV – It’s good to hear that the Speaker of the Parliament stated that the time for falsification is over. What will happen if during the 2007 and 2008 elections the same falsifications happen, the same stuffing of ballot boxes occur, or there are problems with voter lists, and the measures you are undertaking do not have positive results? What measures, if any, will the U.S. Government take?

Ambassador Evans: I am sure you know that we don’t answer hypothetical questions. But the very fact that we are trying to assist Armenia with this package of measures is the main point. We believe that there is a good chance for Armenia and the United States working together to bring about free and fair elections in 2007 and 2008.

EFE: When will these activities, these measures and projects start? When will this $6 million funding be available to Armenia? Will the first point about voters lists be implemented by the time of the referendum?

Ambassador Evans: I think Mr. Phillips may want to add to what I can say. First of all, we have been working in the area of building democracy already, and this is a continuation and an intensification of work that is already in progress. Now, it’s clear that there is only a month before the referendum is scheduled to take place and our strategic goal is the elections of 2007 and 2008.  Do you have anything to add, Robin?

USAID Director Robin Phillips: Sure, I think there are a couple of additional questions that we had. One was about timing of the funds for the program. As the Ambassador said, the program will be something over $6 million. And it will be carried out within a two and a half and three year period. Some of the activities of this program will start earlier, some will start later. And regarding the final question about the voter lists, for example, we don’t expect to actually be getting to work on that until after the beginning of the 2006. And one final point in general about this - we have been working to try to put this package together, but a lot of the details, exactly how it is going to work, we don’t yet know. We have been discussing this with some of the people that will be implementing them. And in case any of you lose one of the pieces of paper that we have passed out on your way back, I believe if you go to the Embassy website you will find it there.

Ambassador Evans: I might just add that you can follow the progress of this program, as well as all of our other assistance programs, on the website. This is one way we guarantee transparency of our activities.

"Ambion" newspaper: Mr. Evans, you mentioned that there is progress in democracy in Armenia. How, in that case, does the fact that one of the opposition parties was refused to a hall in which to hold an extraordinary meeting fit into that context of progress?

Ambassador Evans: You know, I don’t know the exact reason why the Republic Party’s meeting was held outdoors instead of in the hall. I have been told that a number of exhibits booked that space. There are always issues like this, and I don’t think that one should extrapolate from one issue to make a generalized point.

Let me also just say to you two things. First of all, if you have any additional questions about this piece of paper which we have given you, you are free to call the Embassy. If you don’t understand something, we’ll try to get you an answer - it may nit be immediate, but we will try to get you an answer.

And then the second thing I’d like to say is that we are serious about the role of the media in the whole process of free and fair elections. Free and fair elections are not simply what happens on the day of voting. Free and fair election have to include the campaign - the period before the elections take place, and in that period the media have to play an important role. And so, have a good look especially at this last item. There may actually be some interesting opportunities for training and other kinds of things for all of you as you develop greater professional skills. So, keep an eye on that; there might be something you would like to do. I have to go to a lunch now, but again I just want to repeat that if you have further questions, by all means get in touch with us. Thank you very much.

USAID Director Robin Phillips and Ambassador John Evans speak at a press conference on U.S. democracy assistance programs.