TIGRAN TOROSYAN: NOBODY DENIES CASES OF FRAUD

Lragir.am
24 April 06

The deputy speaker of the National Assembly declined to comment on
the statements of the speaker, concerning the election 2003 and the
unacceptability of conducting similar elections in 2007 and 2008.

Arthur Baghdasaryan’s statement, made in an interview with a German
authoritative newspaper, has already received serious responses
in Armenia, even from President Robert Kocharyan, who said he was
astonished by the words of the speaker.

Tigran Torosyan declined to comment on the statements of the president
and the speaker of the National Assembly. On April 24 he told news
reporters that it would be better to wait for Arthur Baghdasaryan’s
comments after he returns. But unlike the president of the Republic,
the words of the speaker did not surprise Tigran Torosyan. “Frankly
speaking, nothing astonishes me any more,” said the Republican deputy
speaker after thinking for a while. “I think the approach that the
elections in 2007 and 2008 must comply with all the standards, it is
an idea, it is an approach, which I believe, is shared by most people
both inside and outside the political arena in Armenia. I believe that
the head of state emphasizes this. Hence, the problem is not that we
should aspire or we should not aspire to, etc. Certainly, we need to
try to achieve general compliance of the elections in 2007 and 2008,”
says Tigran Torosyan.

After these words it appeared extremely important to find out if
compliance implies the election in 2003. In other words, we tried
to enquire from the deputy speaker of the National Assembly that the
elections in 2007 and 2008 will be similar to the election of 2003.

“Of course not. Because everyone said the election in 2003 did not
fully comply with the international standards. This is also the
assessment of the international observers. Certainly, I believe, no
one denies that there was fraud, unfortunately,” says Tigran Torosyan.