MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
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PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
Telephone: +37410. 544041 ext. 202
Fax: +37410. 565601
Email: press@mfa.am
STATE MENT OF THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
OSCE/ODIHR Interim Report Reaffirms that Armenia’s Presidential Elections
Were Basically in Line with Armenia’s international commitments
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs that OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation
Mission has released its third interim report on Armenia’s Presidential
elections. The report reaffirms the ODIHR Election Observation Mission’s
assessment that the February 19 Presidential election "was administered
mostly in line with OSCE and Council of Europe commitments and standards."
The government of Armenia notes that some of the problems cited in this
post-election interim report have already been at the center of attention by
certain law enforcement bodies, and that appropriate steps are taken to
respond, including to criminally charge some of those responsible for
certain electoral irregularities.
At the same time, Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that in spite
of the government’s repeated inquiries, the government has not been provided
with the identifying numbers of 13 of the 17 precincts where, according to
the report, the counting process was "bad" or "very bad", and therefore,
without such information, the government is unable to conduct the
appropriate investigation.
The interim report also includes interpretative statements based on
unverified data. Thus, the report expresses doubt about the high turnout in
precincts 37/18, 37/29, 37/38 and 37/39. Prior to the issuance of the
report, the authorities had explained that there are military posts in those
precincts which naturally raises the numbers of those voting, and thus the
percentage of voter turnout in those precincts can be not just near 100, but
also in excess of 100 percent.
The Armenian government will closely examine each problem, as well as
inconsistency and error cited in the report, and will provide comprehensive
information about each both to the Armenian public and to OSCE/ODIHR in
order to assure that the final report is even more objective and complete.
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