OSCE mission sees no violations so far

PanARMENIAN.Net - The special co-ordinator of the OSCE short-term observer mission Francois-Xavier de Donnea has visited 6 polling stations and saw no violations in the parliamentary vote so far.

There were disagreements in some polling stations, he told the journalists, which, however, cannot considerably affect the quality assessment of the parliamentary elections in Armenia.

When asked how the voting process goes in Armenia as compared with other countries, the international observer said voting in different states cannot be compared, and this is not the goal of their observing mission in Armenia.

“We came to see how the country implements the commitments it has undertaken, and how it observes the law,” the observer said.

According to him, OSCE’s first preliminary report will be ready by 2p.m. on May 7; the main report will be published several weeks later.

Parliamentary elections feature 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 Armenians party, as well as one election bloc represented by opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC).

To enter the parliament, Armenian National Congress (ANC) must overcome 7% threshold as a bloc, unlike the parties, which need 5% threshold level.

647 international and over 31 thous. local observers will monitor the parliamentary elections in Armenia. OSCE/ODIHR (258 observers), OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (69), PACE (37), CIS Interparliamentary Assembly (22), as well as International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and SILBA international organization have deployed observer missions in Armenia. The preliminary results will be published no later than 24 hours after the voting, with final results to be released on the seventh day starting the voting day.