Interfax, Russia
Russia & CIS General Newswire
February 7, 2008 Thursday 2:53 PM MSK
Armenian electoral bodies working transparently – interim report
YEREVAN Feb 7
The CIS observer mission monitoring preparations ahead of the
presidential election in Armenia has made its first interim report on
Wednesday.
"Presidential candidates were nominated and registered in accordance
with the Armenian Election Code, in the spirit of political pluralism
and in line with the principles of competition and alternativeness,"
said the report, a copy of which was made available to Interfax.
All presidential candidates were given an equal opportunity to
conduct an open and public election campaign as required by the
country’s election laws, the document said.
The mission members who attended some of the campaign meetings
between presidential candidates and their voters said that the
authorities have ensured that presidential candidates can freely meet
with their voters.
CIS observers praised the Central Election Commission’s targeted
efforts in preparations ahead of the elections. CEC officials
traveled to every region of the country to train local election
officials and to brief them on the legal side of the elections. A
total of 1,923 polling stations have been set up within a statutory
time period. Election bodies are working openly and transparently, no
attempts by election officials to obstruct the work of the observers
have been detected. The observers came to this conclusion after
visiting 17 territorial election commissions in various towns across
Armenia. Visits to territorial election commissions have shown they
are well organized and prepared and have all equipment and
documentation required for holding the elections.