二00三年亞美尼亞總統選舉

Abstract

二○○三年三月五日，亞美尼亞舉行獨立後的第四次總統選舉，科恰爾揚蟬聯成功，出乎他自己和黨團的意料，他沒在第一輪選舉中過半，同時又因為在前後兩輪的投票中都發生各種違規情事，不但令國際觀察團，特別是那些曾經訓練和協助過他們的西方團體感到失望，而且讓反對黨派在選舉一結束就質疑科氏當選的合法性。半個多月過後，總統不僅無法安撫對手的情緒，反而更因逮捕行動而把政情推向了不安，這樣的發展，使得五月下旬國會改選的投票率僅有百分之五十二．七，至於擴張總統權力的全民公決也未過半。

The presidential election of the Republic of Armenia on March 5, 2003 witnessed the incumbent President Robert Kocharian succeed in his re-election bid. The surprise of the poll was that he did not win the majority of the ballots in the first round and needed a run-off to gain victory. There were allegations of irregularities in both rounds of voting that not only disappointed the inter-national observer groups, particularly those Western ones that provided assistance and training, but also led to opponents challenging the legitimacy of Kocharian’s presidency. Even more than two weeks after the result was made known, the President failed to secure the endorsement of the election by the opposition parties. Instead, he pushed the country into a dangerous state by arresting political opponents. This development is expected to possibly have a negative impact on the upcoming parliamentary election on May 25.