PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE FOR ARMENIA

Arka News Agency, Armenia
March 13 2007

YEREVAN, March 12. /ARKA/. The upcoming parliamentary elections are
of paramount importance for Armenia’s future and further reforms,
Speaker of the RA Parliament Tigran Torosyan stated at his meeting
with a delegation headed by Vice-President of the Millennium Challenges
Corporation John Hewko.

The Public Relations Department, RA Parliament, reports that Speaker
Torosyan stated that a number of international organizations have
been invited to Armenia to observe the parliamentary elections. A
task group is expected to be formed at the RA Parliament to actively
cooperate with the observer mission in eliminating the shortcomings
of the election process.

Speaker Torosyan addressed some changes after the constitutional
reforms in Armenia. Among them is the abolition of administrative
arrest, the right to apply to the Constitutional Court granted to
the parliamentary opposition and ordinary citizens from July 1,
2006, radical changes in the local government and judicial systems,
which made them independent of the executive power. Torosyan added
that the parliamentary elections will be followed by the enforcement
of the constitutional amendments concerning the political system.

Torosyan also stated that the changes in political rights and social
freedoms in Armenia are not accurately reported on the website of
the Millennium Challenges Corporation. He said that democracy is not
perfect in Armenia. On the other hand, he stressed the inadmissibility
of "biased assessments".

Speaker Torosyan pointed out that the assessments of the situation in
Armenia made by Freedom House and other organizations must correspond
to the facts, which is of high importance for both the Millennium
Challenges Corporation and Armenia’s public.

The goal of John Hewko’s visit to Armenia is to get acquainted with
the implementation of the Corporation’s programs in Armenia, as well
as an open talk about the upcoming parliamentary elections with the
Armenian side.

The program of the YUS Millennium Challenges Corporation was launched
in Armenia on September 29, 2006.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress