Armenian CEC approves free and paid air schedule for election campaigns

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Armenia approved at its April 2 session the schedule of providing free and paid air broadcasting to the political forces running for the parliament by proportional system.

The candidates will get 60 minutes of free of charge air and 120 chargeable minutes on the Public TV of Armenia, CEC press service reports. The Public Radio will provide 120 free minutes and 180 paid ones.

From April 8 to 22, the Public TV will daily broadcast the parties' campaign, 2 minutes free and up to 4 minutes paid for each, on April 23-28 the number of free and paid minutes will make 2 and up to 5, respectively, while on April 29-May 4 all forces will get 3 free minutes and up to 5 chargeable minutes per day.

The Public Radio will provide broadcasting opportunity twice a day on April 8-25, 2 minutes free and up to 3 minutes on a paid basis, on April 26-28 twice a day, 2 minutes free and up to 4 paid, while on April 29-May 4 each party will get 3 minutes free and up to 4 minutes paid, again twice a day.

Parliamentary elections are due in Armenia on May 6 featuring 8 political parties (Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), Prosperous Armenia, ARF Dashnaktsutyun (ARFD), Orinats Yerkir, Heritage, Democratic Party of Armenia (DPA), Communist Party of Armenia and United Armenian party, as well as one election bloc represented by opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC).