PACE observers to arrive in Armenia on February 18

armradio.am
16.02.2008 15:10

A 27-member delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe (PACE), headed by John Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC), will
visit Armenia from 18 to 20 February 2008 to observe the presidential
election together with observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly,
the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR)
and the European Parliament.

The delegation members will meet the candidates in the election, the
Chairman of the Central Election Commission and representatives of NGOs
and the media; they will then travel to various parts of the country to
observe the conduct of the poll on 19 February.

A PACE pre-election delegation which visited Yerevan from 29 to 31
January 2008 said that it was "heartened by the clearly expressed will
of the authorities to hold fully democratic elections in line with
Armenia’s commitments to the Council of Europe". But it felt that
continued efforts were needed in organising the elections so as to
ensure public confidence in the electoral process.

The observers will present their conclusions at a joint press
conference at on Wednesday 20 February.