ARMENIA SHOULD DO ITS BEST TO HOLD TRANSPARENT DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS: LEADER OF UNITED LABOUR PARTY

ARMINFO News Agency
October 17, 2006 Tuesday

Today, at a meeting with journalists at the "Pastark" club, Leader
of the United Labour Party of Armenia, MP Gourgen Arsenyan said that
everything should be done to hold the forthcoming parliamentary and
presidential elections in a transparent and democratic way. It is the
only chance of the state structures to retrieve the trust of people.

The deputy noted that there is no need to speak of honest elections
yet, as the political forces in power still use the administrative
resource.

Answering the journalists’ questions about the electorate’s bribery
by a number of political parties, the MP pointed out that the border
between humanitarian assistance and bribery should be determined
by law enforcement agencies. Arsenyan said that, in this respect,
a number of items of the Electoral Code should be reconsidered,
and the latter should define the electoral process, its beginning
and end more distinctly. He expressed confidence that the essential
role in the pre-electoral campaign belongs to the incorruptible part
of population which makes up the greater part of people.

Speaking about the ULP’s participation in the parliamentary elections,
the ULP Leader said that the party should make efforts to receive
the majority of votes. Only this will allow them to implement the
program of the party. He concluded that participation in elections
is a part of permanent political process for any party.