President Serzh Sargsyan received today the Special Coordinator and Head of the OSCE short-term observer mission Ignacio Sanchez Amor and his delegation who have arrived to Armenia to carry out the monitoring of the parliamentary elections which will take place on April 2, President’s Press Office reports.

The President  stressed the importance and highly valued the role of the OSCE observer missions in the electoral processes in Armenia, including the ongoing improvement and development of the electoral system, as well as the assistance provided to Armenia in the last twenty-five years.

Serzh Sargsyan noted with satisfaction that for monitoring the April 2 elections to the National Assembly, the PACE and OSCE/ODIHR have come up as a unified mission which is led by the skillful political figure, Mr. Ignacio Sanchez Amor who is well known for his principled position and experience.

Underscoring that the forthcoming elections are an important milestone on the road towards calling to life the vision of good governance in Armenia, the President noted that the Armenian authorities stress the importance of enhancing and enforcing the trust of the voters towards the electoral process. Towards this end, after wide political and public discussions and as a result of a consensus adopted were and enshrined in the new Electoral Code provisions dealing with the mechanisms called to secure the validity of the electoral processes. According to the President, the large-scale works conducted in this area allow to argue that all requisites are in place – political will, legislative regulations, technical means – to conduct good elections in Armenia, and the authorities in the framework of their jurisdiction will do the best to make it a reality.

Noting that election naturally imply competition, and as in any competition in elections too many of the competitors to get a prize may give in to various, including unacceptable methods. The President in this context stressed that it is critical for all observer missions to manifest a balanced, unbiased approach and form their assessment based on their own observations and credible data. The President of Armenia noted that the Armenian authorities have demonstrated readiness to assist comprehensively to all observer missions in the implementation of their monitoring, including on the election day and after that. The Special Coordinator and Head of the OSCE short-term observer mission Ignacio Sanchez Amor assured that there will be no deviation in their professional performance and that the OSCE/ODIHR, as the most experienced in Europe election monitoring organization which has been over a month in Armenia and has already carried out large-scale activities on the expert assessment of the situation, will continue to fulfill its mission with high professionalism and meticulousness.

The Head of the observation mission noted with satisfaction that the government of Armenia has engaged in the observation mission a large number, over 30 thousand representatives of local public organizations which also include multiple foreign observers. He also highlighted that it is important that all missions approach their work responsibly, with high professionalism.

Ignacio Sanchez Amor also welcomed and encouraged reforms carried out in Armenia.