RA CEC MAKES DECISION ABOUT INVITING INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS FOR
UPCOMING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

YEREVAN, JANUARY 18, NOYAN TAPAN. At the January 18 sitting, the RA
Central Electoral Commssion (CEC) unanimously made a decision to invite
international observers for the February 19 presidential elections in
Armenia. According to the decision, the ambassadors of the OSCE member
states, the foreign ambassadors accredited to Armenia (with their
residence in Yerevan), the head of the OSCE Yerevan Office, the special
representative of the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe to
Armenia, the head of International Institute for Democracy and
Electoral Assistance (IDEA) Armenia Office, the head of the
International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) Armenian branch,
and the chairman of the CEC of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic will be
invited to implement observer mission.

In making this decision, the RA CEC took into account the fact that the
RA National Assembly has already sent invitations to the Parliamentary
Assemblies of the Council of Europe and the OSCE, as well as to the CIS
Interparliamentary Assembly and the European Parliament, while the
foreign ministry of the RA has sent invitations to the OSCE/ODIHR and
the Executive Committee of the CIS.

By another decision, the CEC established the expenditure budget of the
RA CEC in connection with preparation and holding of the February 19
presidential elections. The head of the CEC staff Levon Grigorian said
that 769 mln 855 thousand 259 drams (about 2.5 million USD) is
envisaged to allocate from the state budget for preparation and holding
of the elections. Most of the indicated sum is expendutures on salaries
of members of the electoral commissions. The rest will be allocated for
current expenditures of the Central Electoral Commission, district
electoral commissions (DEC) and local electoral commissions (LEC).