PACE can suspend voting rights of Armenian delegationApril 17, 2008 - 18:37 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - In order to move forward, Armenia should urgently undertake reforms of the political system and of the electoral process, guarantee the independence of the judiciary, the public media and freedom of assembly, and stop the harassment of opposition media outlets, arbitrary arrests and politically motivated detentions, the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) said today.According to the resolution adopted, "the only way to allow the country to move forward with the above-mentioned urgently-needed reforms is the initiation of an open and constructive dialogue between political forces", the parliamentarians said. Following the proposals of the PACE rapporteurs on Armenia (Georges Colombier, France, EPP/CD, and John Prescott, United Kingdom, SOC), the parliamentarians listed a number of conditions for such a dialogue to start, notably the immediate opening of an independent inquiry into the events of 1 March (which resulted in 10 people killed and 200 injured), the urgent release of the persons detained on seemingly artificial and politically motivated charges and the revocation of the amendments recently adopted by the National Assembly to the Law on conducting meetings, assemblies, rallies and demonstrations, with immediate effect. Unless these conditions are met and an open dialogue on the reforms mentioned is seriously engaged, "the credibility of Armenia as a member of the Council of Europe is put into doubt", the parliamentarians said. "The Assembly should therefore consider the possibility of suspending the voting rights of the Armenian delegation to the Assembly at the opening of its June 2008 part-session, if no considerable progress has been made on these requirements by then", the resolution concludes, PACE communication unit reports. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Government reveals details from Pashinyan’s meeting in border village Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has met with a group of residents of a border village in Armenia’s northern Tavush province Narek Manasyan wins European Boxing Championships silver for Armenia Armenia’s Narek Manasyan (92kg) won Armenia’s second silver medal at the European Boxing Championships 2024 on April 28. Blinken urges Azerbaijan to continue negotiations with Armenia Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has urged Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to continue negotiations with Armenia. Pashinyan, Blinken talk Armenia-U.S. ties over the phone Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on April 28, Pashinyan’s office reports. |