Much has been said and written about the constitutional amendments referendum, which will take place this Sunday. I don’t plan on talking about the values of the amendments presented to the Armenian voter. We have decided what we are going to vote for and we defend the announcement made recently by president of the European Congress. However, I would like to say that, in my opinion, the time for citizens to make a choice is near. The actions taken by Armenian authorities and voters in the days to come after the referendum is based on internal affairs. However, the world is not too big and news travels at the speed of light, so what happens here in Armenia will soon be known across the globe and that will help other countries far away form an opinion of the country. History has proved that, when it comes to democracy, a few nice words stated in the Constitution are not enough. Besides that, there must be a democracy within the nation, respect towards the opinions expressed by the compatriots of the country and the debate mechanisms, free press and finally-staying true to the principles set forth in the ways of voting for elections. All the abovementioned are characteristics of “fair government”.
This Sunday, Armenia has the chance to prove that it has a far voting system. We hope that each Armenian citizen will take part in the referendum. If there is one lesson that both hemispheres of the globe have learned throughout the years, that lesson is that preventing the voters from voting by disturbance and/or taking advantage of the voter’s rights hurts the country, the citizens and the authorities. Even when there are expert observers present during any election or referendum, there are still many inevitable events which must be taken care of by the officials organizing the election and they must have a sense of responsibility. If they do their job well, then everyone wins despite the results of the election. On the contrary, when there are serious violations, everyone loses. We wish the voters of Armenia a happy referendum day and this will also be a good day for all Armenians.
JOHN EVANS
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador the U.S. in Armenia