SARKISIAN LAUDS OSCE FOR ‘OBJECTIVE’ ELECTION VERDICT
By Emil Danielyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
May 22 2007

Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian thanked observers from the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe on Tuesday for their positive
evaluation of his government’s handling of Armenia’s parliamentary
elections which his Republican Party (HHK) won by a landslide.

"I think that with these elections we solved an important issue,
and I agree that a new standard was thereby set for the forthcoming
[presidential] elections," he was quoted by his office as telling
Boris Frlec, head of the observer mission deployed by the OSCE’s
Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

Sarkisian described as "impartial and objective" the mission’s
preliminary conclusion that the May 12 elections were held "largely
in accordance with international standards for democratic elections."

The verdict gave a massive boost to the international reputation of
the Armenian government and the legitimacy of the HHK victory. It
also sharply contrasted with the vote’s assessment by the Armenian
opposition and many civil society representatives.

Virtually all opposition contenders have rejected the official
vote results as fraudulent, alleging widespread voter intimidation,
vote buying and other forms of electoral fraud. The allegations were
echoed on Tuesday by the Dashink (Alliance) party of Samvel Babayan,
the former military leader of Nagorno-Karabakh. The final results
released by the Central Election Commission (CEC) over the weekend
showed Dashink winning 2.5 percent of the vote and only one seat in
the National Assembly.

In a written statement, Babayan’s party claimed that the CEC figures
"do not reflect the will of the people" due to "vote irregularities
registered in numerous polling stations." It also accused Western
observers of turning a blind eye to vote rigging.

The Armenian government’s press service quoted Frlec as insisting
at the meeting with Sarkisian that the elections were a "clear step
towards progress" and expressing hope that the authorities in Yerevan
will look into violations reported by his monitors. In particular,
the HHK, which effectively won an outright majority in parliament,
should consider initiating yet another reform of Armenia’s electoral
legislation, he said.

According to the statement, Frlec also noted that the OSCE mission
is still working on its final election report which is expected to
be issued next month. He had said at a May 13 news conference that
long-term ODIHR observers will specifically "compare" the CEC tally
with vote protocols issued by lower-level election commissions. Some
opposition leaders claim to have already found glaring discrepancies
in the official figures.

The ODIHR-led mission has so far refused to comment on the results
of the data verification. Its preliminary report said counting of
ballots was "bad or very bad" in about 20 percent of polling stations
visited by the foreign observers.

Sarkisian said it is "extremely important" that the observers’ final
findings "contain details and be specific."

The mission spokesman, Ivan Godarsky, told RFE/RL that Frlec met
Sarkisian as part of its "courtesy visits" to leaders of the main
Armenian parties which are aimed at having a better understanding of
the post-election situation in the country.