"ELECTIONS ARE NOT LIMITED TO THE DAY OF VOTING", HEAD OF OSCE LONG-TERM OBSERVATION MISSION IN ARMENIA STRESSED

Mediamax
February 20, 2008

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Head of OSCE/ODIHR long-term Observation Mission
Geert Ahrens stated that the preliminary report on the presidential
elections in Armenia, presented today, "is based on a thousand of
reports, received from our observers".

Mediamax reports that, speaking at a news conference in Yerevan today,
Geert Ahrens stressed that "the elections are not limited to the day
of voting". He stressed that the long-term observers from OSCE/ODIHR
will be attentively following the investigation of the criminal cases,
initiated in connection with the electoral violations, as well as the
consideration of complaints, presented by the presidential candidates
and their staffs.

Answering the question on whether the registered violations
may influence the results of presidential elections in Armenia,
Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly Ann-Marie Lizin stated:

"We never assess the results of the elections; we assess the process
and make conclusions, based on the reports of our observers".

The Head of PACE Observation Group, British MP John Prescott stated
that the observers may not base on the violation statements, which do
not have factual evidence and proofs. Geert Ahrens agreed: "we cannot
reproduce statements, evidence of which we do not have".