May 12 parliamentary election in Armenia was a step forward

PanARMENIAN.Net - In a joint statement on May 13, the International Election Observation Mission from OSCE, CoE PA, European Parliament and OSCE/ODIHR for the 12 May parliamentary elections in Armenia concluded that the elections demonstrated improvement from previous ones and were largely in accordance with international commitments. "The mission commended steps taken by the Armenian authorities to address serious shortcomings, including amendments to the Election Code. The election campaign was dynamic with extensive media coverage. Election day was calm, with no major incidents reported, but a few cases of fraud schemes were observed. Some procedural problems arose during the count and tabulation of votes as well as isolated cases of deliberate falsifications," says the document.



Observers stress these elections were a clear improvement and that is good for Armenian democracy. "Now, more work is needed to further consolidate this young democracy. That will require joint effort and will by all political forces. I hope we will see that happen in the years ahead," Tone Tingsgaard, the Special Co-ordinator of the short-term election observers and Vice President of the OSCE PA.