OSCE SPECIAL COORDINATOR TONE TINGSGAARD ARRIVES IN ARMENIA
PanARMENIAN.Net
10.05.2007 16:54 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The OSCE Special Coordinator for the elections in
Armenia, Swedish parliamentarian and OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Vice
President Tone Tingsgaard, has arrived in Armenia to prepare for the
observation of Saturday’s parliamentary elections.
As PanARMENIAN.Net came to know from the OSCE PA press office,
Ms.Tingsgaard, an experienced election observer and a frequent
visitor to Armenia, was appointed Special Co-ordinator by the
OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Spain’s Foreign Minister Miguel Angel
Moratinos. As such, she leads all international short-term election
observers deployed by the OSCE.
The 50 OSCE PA members on hand are part of a larger group of
international election observers from the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe and the European Parliament as well as from
OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).
In total, almost 100 parliamentarians and 300 other short-term
observers will be observing the parliamentary elections in all parts
of Armenia.
"I am delighted to be in Armenia in these important and exciting
times," said Ms.Tingsgaard upon arrival today. "All the international
observers have an important role to play as the elections are crucial
for Armenia and its continued democratic development.
I wish the country and all its citizens success on Saturday."
The OSCE PA has a long experience in election monitoring. Since 1993,
over 2,000 OSCE PA members have participated as election observers
in over 75 elections over the entire OSCE region.
A formal statement about the elections will be issued on Sunday,
13 May, the day after the elections.