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ARMENIA SHOWS HOW IT’S DONE

Falsifying elections is a tough job, so you need just the right authoritarian government to do it. Armenia was another country on the list to do so this weekend, with a constitutional referendum that, despite polling places being nearly empty all day, reported a relatively high turnout. But given that the opposition simply boycotted the referendum, it wouldn’t be all that surprising if a “yes” vote actually did occur, from what I can tell, and the specific amendments — like giving more power to the parliament, granted the judiciary more independence, and giving diasporans citizenship — sound like the first step in a long process of democratization that will eventually get out of the government’s control.

The best coverage is going on in the Armenian blogosphere. Blogrel is in the business of all things Armenian, and the referendum is the hot topic right now. Also, New Eurasia’s Armenia blog is chock full of reports, statements, photos, and more. Armenia Liberty has a press roundup of newspapers in the country.