European observers find election in Armenia to be democratic but speak about drawbacks

Basically, the presidential election in Armenia has passed according to international standards, although further improvement of democratic election processes is a must, the European observers think.

Senator from Belgium Ann-Mari Lizinne, Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (PA), who was heading the mission of OSCE PA observers, said today at the press conference in Yerevan, while presenting the report of the mission of observers from European Parliament, PACE and ODIHR/OSCE at the election, in particular:

"The European observers believe that the Armenian authorities have undertaken effective efforts to address the defects of previous elections, however, there is a need of further improvements and the presence of political will to address the challenges related to lack of public trust to the election processes and to the absence of clear separation between the functions of the state and the party," the IA "News-Armenia" is quoting.

Ms Lizinne has added that the vote tabulation process did not contribute to reduction of doubts among the participants of the election process.

The CIS mission has also recognized the recent presidential election in Armenia to be free and open. In the opinion of mission members, the violations were not broad-scale. A respective statement was made today by Alexander Torshin, head of the mission of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, when he presented the conclusion of the OSCE mission of observers to journalists in Yerevan.

"The Republic of Armenia has set up all the conditions for preparing the election and voting, respective additions were made in the electoral code after the parliamentary elections, and the latter now ensures free elections; the voting process took place in quiet environment, under the electoral code of Armenia and with transparency of the work of the electoral commission," Mr Torshin said.