Head of PACE Ad hoc Committee post-election fact-finding mission meets
chairmen of parliamentary factions
2008-03-07 17:46:00
ArmInfo. Head of PACE Ad hoc Committee post-election fact-finding
mission John Prescott met with chairmen of parliamentary factions, the
parliamentary press-service told ArmInfo.
At the meeting with Artur Baghdasaryan, Head of Orinats Yerkir
parliamentary faction, with participation of CE Secretary General
Special Representative Bojana Urumova, John Prescott stressed the
necessity of recognizing the rights and powers of the Constitutional
Court irrespective of its decision on the presidential election. Mr.
Prescott said the first president of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan said
that he has conditions for dialogue that are also EU requirements. John
Prescott called the cancellation of the state of emergency important,
but it is within the competence of the government. However, political
dialogue requires relevant conditions, he said. He also stressed the
necessity political activation and added that EU is concerned about the
human rights that are the basis for Armenia-CE agreements.
For his part, Artur Baghdasaryan said that being the key opposition
force he constructively cooperated with Ter-Petrosyan and other
oppositionists before the presidential campaign, however, their
dialogue worsened as soon as the campaign started. He proposed
Ter-Petrosyan to sign a cooperation document, but the later refused. A.
Baghdasaryan said the ex-president proposed him unification or
leaving politics. As regards the mass clashes on March 1, A.
Baghdasaryan said the authorities had no intention to take any measures
against the demonstration. ‘The authorities were ready to wait for the
resolution of the Constitutional Court, but informed of the
accumulation of weapons, they made a decision to carry out
inspections’, A. Baghdasaryan said. He assured the foreign
representatives that they intend to make democratic reforms by forming
a ruling coalition.
John Prescott also met with a member of ARF Dashnaktsutyun party Vahan
Hovhannissyan. Head of Hay Dat Office Kiro Manoyan attended the meeting
as well. V. Hovhannissyan believes it senseless discussing the
presidential elections and the falsifications at the moment. ‘Unlike
Ter-Petrosyan, ARFD party conducted a constructive and civilized
presidential campaign’, Hovhannisyan said. At a meeting
with Chairman of Heritage opposition faction Raffi Hovannisian as well
as members of the faction Vardan Khachatryan and Anahit Bakhshyan, John
Prescott expressed concern about the public distrust
in post- election processes in the country. R. Hovannisian said the
appeals are considered by the Constitutional Court when there is state
of emergency in the country, which cannot be considered legal
and will even more raise the public distrust in the judicial system of
the country.