HEAD OF THE OSCE/ODIHR MISSION URGES TO "DO A LITTLE MORE TO ENSURE SECRET VOTING"
armradio.am
05.02.2008 12:34
The Head of the Observation Mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) Geert Ahrens said in an
interview with Mediamax that "you must, naturally, be interested in
coming out of these elections with a good reputation, which will
evidence that Armenia can hold elections that correspond to the
commitments before the OSCE."
"The Armenian President, the Government and many officials have assured
that it will happen, but we must compare the actual development of
events with OSCE standards," Mr. Ahrens said.
Asked whether the OSCE Mission is mainly concerned with the
non-balanced coverage of the presidential contenders before the
official launch of the elections campaign, the Ambassador responded:
"I would not call it the main concern. It’s a concern we expressed
based on the facts registered by our department engaged in monitoring
of mass media. I will not conceal that a big anxiety is connected with
the election day and the night following the election, when the ballots
are being counted. Nevertheless, it does not mean that I expect frauds,
I cannot make predictions. However, the day after the elections is
"half of the elections," and we will see how the things develop.
We have also paid attention to the opinions about the low level of
trust in the elections, and during our meetings with representatives
of the Government and the Central Electoral Commission we raised the
question that it is necessary to do a little more to ensure secret
voting. I have the impression that there are many people in this
country who are convinced that others can control how they are voting."