PARLIAMENTARY GROUP TAKES STEPS TO COMBAT ELECTION FRAUD

Panorama.am
15:14 25/09/06

"Supreme Council" parliamentary group has disseminated a statement
telling about its pre-election initiatives. The group, headed by Ruben
Torosyan, denounced both the opposition and the authorities saying,
"the opposition is busy with insignificant issues." The statement
tells about steps taken by Supreme Council to contribute to elections.

Particularly, the group has submitted a case in the first instance
court with a charge against "idleness of the president." The statement
says that the constitutional order was violated in the country with
Defense Minister Serzh Sargsyan joining the Armenian Republican
Party (HHK). HHK’s activities must be banned, the initiators think,
and that should have been done by the Armenian president. However,
the latter failed to do so, the statement says.

The group has also applied to the Central Electoral Committee pointing
out that Armenian Revolutionary Federation has failed to register
with the State Registry before 2003 elections.

As another initiative, Supreme Council applied to the Russian Embassy
to Armenia saying that the Chairman of the Union of Armenians in Russia
"sets an example of violating the Armenian law to the foreigners."

The group also sent a notification to the general prosecutor’s
office saying the office has failed to issue decisions on seven
member of Central Electoral Committee who have reportedly violated
the Election Law.

The initiators also address to the ambassadors accredited in Armenia
and heads of international organizations urging them to sign a
memorandum "on respect of the Armenian legislation during the upcoming
elections." Torosyan and other initiators think that "some of them
and the observers of respective countries have violated the Armenian
legislations during the last elections and the Referendum having an
immediate impact on the results."