Armenian NA speaker suggests establishing commission to monitor elections

PanARMENIAN.Net - Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly Samvel Nikoyan suggested that a body be established within the parliament authority to monitor implementation of the Electoral Code provisions and to hold fair elections this May.

He spoke about this while opening the parliamentary hearings on the opposition's proposal to move to 100 per cent proportional system of elections. The speaker said the commission will comprise representatives of both the authorities and the opposition.

The standing parliamentary commission on state and legal issues decided on February 1 to hold hearings on February 15 on transfer to 100 per cent proportional system of elections.

The opposition Heritage and ARF Dashnaktsutyun parties came up with a joint statement on December 27, 2011 calling on the authorities to cancel the majority electoral system and move to 100 per cent proportional system of elections. The Armenian National Congress (ANC) and a number of other opposition forces backed this initiative. ANC also declared they plan to organize a rally during parliamentary discussions to support the idea.

The coalition Prosperous Armenia party together with the opposition Heritage and ARF Dashnaktsutyun parties addressed speaker Nikoyan to organize parliamentary hearings on the issue of moving to 100 per cent proportional system of elections.