U.S. hails "calm and orderly" elections in Armenia

PanARMENIAN.Net - Election day was generally "calm and orderly" across Armenia and citizens were able to freely exercise their right to vote, the U.S. embassy said in a statement on Tuesday, April 4.

"The U.S. Embassy concurs with preliminary conclusions of the OSCE Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) mission, which assessed elections to have been well administered with fundamental freedoms generally respected, while noting the elections 'were tainted by credible information about vote-buying' and pressure on voters.," the embassy said.

"We urge the Armenian government, political parties, and civil society to work together to address these concerns through existing or new legal and enforcement mechanisms."

The embassy said the United States will continue to monitor and analyze reports from international and domestic election observers, as well as the adjudication of election violations during the post-election period.

Based on results calculated in all the 2009 polling stations, the Republican party leads with 49.12% of votes (771 247 ballots), followed by the Tsarukyan bloc with 27.32% (428 965), YELQ with 7.77% (122 049) and the ARF Dashnaktsutyun with 6.57% (103 173). Voter turnout stood at 60.86% on Sunday.