Lragir, Armenia
Feb 15 2008

MAYORS ARE ACTIVELY CAMPAIGNING FOR PRIME MINISTER

The OSCE/ODIHR has released the second interim report on the Armenian
election process in the period between January 27 and February 9.

"All 1,923 Precinct Election Commissions (PECs) have been formed to
conduct polling on election day. OSCE/ODIHR observers reported that
the PEC training sessions, which began on 30 January, were well
conducted," runs the report.

Besides, the observers note that "the large majority of the persons
elected as PEC Chairs were appointed through a "nomination chain"
by the President, the ruling Republican Party and its coalition
partner Prosperous Armenia.

"Eight candidates held campaign rallies. Most passed off peacefully,
but unrest occurred at two of Levon Ter-Petrossian’s events. The
OSCE/ODIHR EOM is aware of five incidents in which party or candidate
premises have been damaged either through vandalism, shooting or
possible arson," holds the report.

"The serving Prime Minister, Serzh Sargsyan, is actively
campaigning. In the regions,
OSCE/ODIHR observers reported difficulties in distinguishing
accurately between Serzh
Sargsyan’s campaign and the work of local self-government, partly
because some mayors are actively campaigning for Mr Sargsyan," the
observers state.

"Media monitoring indicates that the amount of political and
election-related information has increased significantly from 21
January (start of official campaign period) onwards. On most of the
media, the candidates’ total coverage time was more equitable than
in the previous reporting period. However, the coverage of Levon
Ter-Petrossian in various broadcast media contained many critical
remarks, while the other eight candidates were presented in a
generally positive or neutral manner," is the next observation of
the observers.

"To date, 18 formal complaints were filed with the CEC. On 1
February, the Constitutional
Court received a petition by a candidate, Arman Melikyan, which it
dismissed. On 8
February, the Court agreed to hear a petition by Levon Ter-Petrossian
claiming that biased media coverage constituted "obstacles ¡K that
make his further participation in the election impossible," the
executive summary of the interim report concludes.

The OSCE/ODIHR observation mission includes 40 short-term and 260
long-term observers.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress