ICES chief: PACE pessimistic assessment of campaign prematureJanuary 22, 2013 - 16:28 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The official presidential race has launched in Armenia Monday, January 21, with PACE observer mission having earlier expressed concern over the course of the campaign. PACE’s remarks involved low public interest to elections, inaccuracies in voters’ lists and impossibility to vote abroad. However, as the director of the International expert Center for Electoral Systems (ICES) said, PACE’s pessimistic assessment is premature and somewhat biased. “Preliminary monitoring shows that Central Election Committee (CEC) and the ruling party are the ones most interested in the accuracy of voters’ lists. The lists were posted on CEC website for every voter to make sure his name was included,” Alexander Tsinker said. “Any country may be accused of inaccuracies; however, to the best of my knowledge, after the 2012 parliamentary elections the inaccuracies were eliminated,” he said. As Professor John Swails, a member of ICES observer mission noted, though the fact that the 1st and 2nd presidents of Armenia are not on the list of hopefuls somewhat decreases the acuteness of the vote, it can in no way be deemed a violation. Top stories Six total incidents have burned 19 old-growth trees. Friday night 8 trees were torched along the beautiful main entrance. The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says. Hikmet Hajiyev has said that there is no place for USAID operation in Azerbaijan any longer. A telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan before the CSTO summit is not planned, Peskov says. Partner news | Azerbaijan must respect human rights, Scholz tells Aliyev German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for greater respect for human rights in Azerbaijan. Armenia: Defense Ministry warns against involving army in political processes The Ministry’s statement came after a video surfaced online, showing soldiers joining the protests in Tavush. Ucom equips four bus stops in Ijevan with free Wi-Fi Ucom now provides free Wi-Fi coverage in smart bus stops in four communities of Ijevan. Armenia, Russia discuss life extension of Metsamor nuclear plant Issues regarding the extension of life of the 2nd power unit of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant were discussed in Yerevan. |