PanARMENIAN.Net

May 12 parliamentary election in Armenia was a step forward
13.05.2007 17:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In a joint statement on May 13, the International
Election Observation Mission from OSCE, CoE PA, European Parliament
and OSCE/ODIHR for the 12 May parliamentary elections in Armenia
concluded that the elections demonstrated improvement from previous
ones and were largely in accordance with international
commitments. `The mission commended steps taken by the Armenian
authorities to address serious shortcomings, including amendments to
the Election Code. The election campaign was dynamic with extensive
media coverage. Election day was calm, with no major incidents
reported, but a few cases of fraud schemes were observed. Some
procedural problems arose during the count and tabulation of votes as
well as isolated cases of deliberate falsifications,’ says the
document.

Observers stress these elections were a clear improvement and that is
good for Armenian democracy. `Now, more work is needed to further
consolidate this young democracy. That will require joint effort and
will by all political forces. I hope we will see that happen in the
years ahead,’ Tone Tingsgaard, the Special Co-ordinator of the
short-term election observers and Vice President of the OSCE PA.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress