ANTICIPATING A BETTER CULTURE
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07:17 pm | June 04, 2009
Politics
"Our satisfaction in seeing the citizens electing their city council,
has been tempered by deficiencies in the conduct of the vote",
said the head of the Congress observation delegation to Yerevan,
Nigel Mermagen (UK, ILDG).
The Congress delegation welcomed the fact that by these elections,
Armenia proceeded on its way to implement local democracy. The
overall organisation of the elections has been broadly carried out
in compliance with European standards. In this respect, the election
observation mission of the Congress noted a considerable step forward
in comparison to the local elections which took place in Yerevan in
September 2008.
Nevertheless, the Congress delegation found that the political actors
in Armenia should change attitude and behaviour so that the practical
conduct of elections, as well as the democratic culture of the country
could further improve in the future.
"Democracy is not only about the organisational framework of
elections. It is about electoral conduct and culture. Elections have
to be clear, fair and transparent even beyond polling stations",
concluded Nigel Mermagen.
The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe
was the only international observer which monitored the municipal
elections on 31 May in Yerevan. From 3 to 6 May a three-member
pre-election mission was carried out. The actual observation mission
was organised from 27 May to 1 June. It included nine Congress members
and three members of the European Union Committee of Regions from
United Kingdom, San Marino, Poland, Italy, Hungary, France, Estonia
and Belgium.
During both the pre-election and the election observation missions,
the members of the delegation met with representatives of the
government, the political parties and the media as well as with NGOs
and Ambassadors.