ARMENIA’S DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT IN INTEREST OF THE U.S.-ARMENIA BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP

PanARMENIAN.Net
30.07.2008 18:04 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Societal tensions will only increase if the
authorities fail to take swift, dramatic, and substantive measures
to heal the serious divisions in the country that the presidential
election and its violent aftermath exacerbated, David J. Kramer,
Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor said before
the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.

"While all elements of society have an obligation to engage
in constructive dialogue and to act responsibly, the heaviest
responsibility lies with those who actually hold power – the
government," he said.

"It is in the interest of the U.S.-Armenia bilateral relationship and
in the interest of the Armenian people to see the new government in
Yerevan succeed in deepening Armenia’s democratic development. On a
positive note, I found the Ombudsman to be playing an important role
on behalf of democratic reform in the country," Mr. Kramer said.

As to Azerbaijan, he noted that there are some serious concerns
about the state of democracy and the protection of human rights
in this country. "In my meetings I focused on democracy and human
rights concerns which are essential for the type of relationship. We
seek to bring our cooperation on democratization up to the level
of our security and energy collaboration. Azerbaijan’s progress on
democratic reform is key not only to the strengthening of our bilateral
relationship, but also to Azerbaijan’s own long-term stability,"
he said.

Commenting on the forthcoming presidential election, Mr Kramer said,
"A key factor in determining the credibility of the entire elections
process, and for establishing broad confidence in the legitimacy of
the outcome of the election, is serious domestic and international
election monitoring. It is especially unfortunate that this spring
Azerbaijani courts deregistered and annulled Azerbaijan’s largest
independent domestic election monitoring NGO, the Election Monitoring
Center (EMC)."