HEAD OF OSCE PA OBSERVER MISSION UNDERLINES IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL TRUST
IN ELECTORAL PROCESS
YEREVAN, APRIL 14, NOYAN TAPAN. Receiving on April 13 Vice President
of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Head of the OSCE PA observer
mission of the parliamentary elections in Armenia Tone Tingsgard, the
Speaker of the RA National Assembly Tigran Torosian attached
importance to the OSCE PA mission’s assistance in the upcoming
parliamentary elections. In anticipation of close cooperation, he said
that a working group composed of representatives of 5 factions and 2
deputy groups was set up at the National Assembly (only the "Orinats
Yerkir" faction declined, saying that the results of the working
group’s activities are obscure). Starting from April 16, the
secretariat of the group is ready to record all shortcomings noticed
by the observer missions – in order to inform the working group about
these shortcoming and to eliminate them rapidly.
Tone Tingsgard formulated the goal of observer mission of thier
organization, as well as of other international organizations as
assistance for Armenian elections to be in line with international
standards. Noting that a good Electoral Code has been created, he
underlined the importance of the society’s trust in electoral process.
According to the RA National Assembly PR Department, on the same day
T. Torosian also received the delegation of the temporary commission
on observation of the parliamentary elections in Armenia (head – Leo
Platvoet). Special Representative of the Council of Europe
Secretary-General Bojana Urumova was present at the meeting.
Underlining the importance of social trust in the electoral system and
political parties, Leo Platvoet noted that it will be seen definitely
on the election day. Agreeing that the real and full picture will
become clear at the elections, T. Torosian at the same time said that
according to surveys, 60-70% of voters are willing to go to elections,
while their actual number may be greater.
In the words of the NA speaker, it is important that the monitoring
conducted with the assistance of the CE correspond to reality. In this
connection T. Torosian spoke about the conclusion of one of the
organizations conducting the monitoring, according to which, much TV
time has been allocated to the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) – the
coverage of official activities of the NA speaker and the prime
minister as RPA members, as well as reports on the death and funeral
of the former prime minister Andranik Margarian have been included. In
order to provide reliable information to the public, the NA speaker
considered it necessary to specify the monitoring standards and avoid
biased study.
During the meeting, the sides discussed the problem of traiffs for
paid political advertising: L. Platvoet expressed an opinion that
these prices are high compared with the standard of living, while
T. Torosian said that these tariffs have remained the same since the
2003 elections.