PACE co-rapporteurs call for reform projects to be implemented in Armenia

PanARMENIAN.Net - While welcoming the authorities' many initiatives for electoral reform and reform of the judiciary and the police, the co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the honouring of obligations and commitments by Armenia (John Prescott, United Kingdom, SOC, and Axel Fischer, Germany, EPP/CD) say that it is now time for these initiatives to be translated into action. The rapporteurs emphasise in an information note that legislative changes alone are not sufficient and "should be accompanied by policies aimed at changing existing practice and mentalities".

According to the note, the ongoing detention of certain persons for their role in the events of March 2008 and the lack of a proper inquiry into the causes of the 10 fatalities which occurred at that time "continue to poison the political environment in Armenia" and could well have "a negative impact on next year's elections".

It is pointed out in the note that the current status quo with regard to reforms, combined with political polarisation and the deteriorating social and economic environment, "could potentially lead to renewed social unrest if unaddressed and not followed by genuinely democratic elections".

The rapporteurs intend to write a report on the functioning of democratic institutions in Armenia, for debate at the autumn 2011 part-session of the Assembly, PACE official website reported.