EU Monitoring Post-Election Processes in Armenia

YEREVAN, May 8. /ARKA/. The European Union (EU) keeps on highlighting
the election and post-election processes in Armenia, EU Special
Representative in the South Caucasus Peter Semneby stated at his
meeting with Speaker of the RA Parliament Tigran Torosyan.

The EU pronounces for the release of the persons arrested for their
political activities, the removal of restrictions on rallies as well as
for a dialogue between different sections of Armenia’s population,
Semneby said.

The EU representative pointed out the importance of creating necessary
conditions for a political dialogue, for instance, an independent
investigation into the March 1 and following events. Various proposals
have been made, namely, the formation of an ad hoc parliamentary
commission and the involvement of the RA Ombudsman in the work.

Semneby pointed out that the RA Parliament may play a great role not
only in this process, but also in the establishment of a dialogue
despite the fact that some of the political forces are not represented
in Parliament.
Peter Semneby, who had held a meeting with Levon Ter-Petrosyan before,
also pointed out some changes in the views of Armenia’s first president
` he is ready to be immediately involved in political processes. The EU
representative pointed out the importance of a dialogue with the
parliamentary majority.

At Semneby’s request, Speaker Torosyan presented his approaches,
pointing out that the changes in Ter-Petrosyan’s positions were seen
during the congress, which is natural after some time has passed.

On the other hand, Torosyan said that the opposition keep on distorting
facts and accusing everyone ` from Armenia’s authorities to European
organizations.

He pointed out that Armenia’s legislation does not stipulate arrests
for political activities, and the country’s law-enforcement agencies
are well aware of that. Law-enforcers will be punished if the
investigation reveals arrests for political reasons.

Speaking of a possible dialogue, Torosyan emphasized the importance of
specifying the terms of dialogue ` who are the participants and what
particular problems are to be discussed.

According to Torosyan, no preconditions for a dialogue must be set.

As regards an independent investigation, he pointed out that the
possibility of forming an ad hoc commission to investigate the March 1
events is being discussed with the parliamentary factions.

Speaker Torosyan agreed that not all the political forces are
represented in Parliament. However, members of other political forces
and public organizations were involved an ad hoc commission set up at
the RA Parliament to reform Armenia’s Constitution. `0–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress