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PACE OBSERVERS FIRST ASSESSMENT
Lragir
Feb 1 2008
Armenia
The pre-electoral mission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe visited Yerevan to assess the political climate and
preparations for the upcoming Presidential Elections in Armenia. Its
main mission was to assess the progress in the implementation of the
electoral framework, as continued progress in the manner in which
the upcoming Presidential Elections in Armenia are conducted will
be essential to ensure public confidence in the electoral process in
this country.
The delegation noted that the Parliamentary Elections in 2007 had
shown progress over previous elections and expressed its hope that this
progress would continue during the upcoming Presidential Elections on
19 February 2008. It was therefore heartened by the clearly expressed
political will of the authorities to address previous shortcomings and
to hold fully democratic elections in line with Armenia's commitments
to the Council of Europe. In this respect, the delegation welcomes the
improvements in the legal framework for these elections, which address
a number of recommendations of the Parliamentary Assembly. However, it
would also like to stress that the democratic conduct of the upcoming
elections will squarely depend on the electoral framework being fully
implemented, both according to the letter and spirit of the law.
Genuinely democratic elections, and the legitimacy of their outcome
in the eyes of the people, depend on a high level of public confidence
in the electoral process. In that respect, the delegation is concerned
with the apparent lack of trust in the electoral process, including in
the impartiality of the legal complaints and appeals process, expressed
by a number of interlocutors. It therefore strongly recommends that the
authorities take all necessary measures to ensure the public confidence
in the electoral process, especially with regard to the secrecy of
the vote and the transparency of the counting and tabulation processes.
While the setup of the voting booths has been changed to impede vote
buying and multiple voting there is some concern that this may lead
to voters inadvertently showing how they voted, especially if large
numbers of people are present in the poling stations. The delegation
saw a sample voting booth and was convinced that they are designed
according to international standards. However, it calls upon the
CEC to take all precautions to ensure the secrecy of the vote
on Election Day. Moreover, while the Central Election Commission
(CEC) has made laudable efforts to increase the transparency of the
tabulation process, these measures did not work fully satisfactorily
during the previous Parliamentary Elections. The delegation hopes
that the technical problems then encountered have been overcome and
recommend that the CEC sets a minimal timeframe during which the
results protocols have to be publicly posted at the polling stations.
The Election Code ensures a balanced composition of all election
commissions, but it was noted that this balance was not reflected in
the composition of the leadership troikas of the Territorial Election
Commissions. The delegation hopes that this imbalance will not be
repeated at the level of the Precinct Election Commissions.
Democratic elections demand a level playing field between all
candidates during, but not limited to, the legal campaign period. The
delegation therefore regrets the clearly imbalanced media coverage
on most broadcast media, including public television, before the
official campaign period, as was reported by several monitoring
organisations, including by the Election Observation Mission of the
OSCE/ODIHR whose findings published in its first interim report the
delegation fully supports.
The delegation heard several complaints that the current Prime
Minister, who is a Presidential candidate, would have unfair campaign
advantages as a result of his decision to maintain his position as
Prime Minister during the campaign period. While recognising the
legality of the current Prime Minister to continue his functions
despite being a candidate, it adds to the responsibility of the
government to avoid any perception that administrative resources
are abused in favour of, or against, any particular candidate. The
delegation welcomes that, till now, the election campaign has taken
place in an open and unimpeded climate, but took note of reports
by some candidates about their difficulties in obtaining campaign
offices in some regions.
The delegation is confident that the authorities will address the
concerns of the delegation and will continue its efforts to organise
fully democratic Presidential Elections that will have the full
confidence of the Armenian people.
The delegation would like to thank the authorities for their
co-operation and assistance during this visit. The Parliamentary
Assembly will return to Armenia to observe the Presidential elections
with a 30 member delegation.
Lragir
Feb 1 2008
Armenia
The pre-electoral mission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe visited Yerevan to assess the political climate and
preparations for the upcoming Presidential Elections in Armenia. Its
main mission was to assess the progress in the implementation of the
electoral framework, as continued progress in the manner in which
the upcoming Presidential Elections in Armenia are conducted will
be essential to ensure public confidence in the electoral process in
this country.
The delegation noted that the Parliamentary Elections in 2007 had
shown progress over previous elections and expressed its hope that this
progress would continue during the upcoming Presidential Elections on
19 February 2008. It was therefore heartened by the clearly expressed
political will of the authorities to address previous shortcomings and
to hold fully democratic elections in line with Armenia's commitments
to the Council of Europe. In this respect, the delegation welcomes the
improvements in the legal framework for these elections, which address
a number of recommendations of the Parliamentary Assembly. However, it
would also like to stress that the democratic conduct of the upcoming
elections will squarely depend on the electoral framework being fully
implemented, both according to the letter and spirit of the law.
Genuinely democratic elections, and the legitimacy of their outcome
in the eyes of the people, depend on a high level of public confidence
in the electoral process. In that respect, the delegation is concerned
with the apparent lack of trust in the electoral process, including in
the impartiality of the legal complaints and appeals process, expressed
by a number of interlocutors. It therefore strongly recommends that the
authorities take all necessary measures to ensure the public confidence
in the electoral process, especially with regard to the secrecy of
the vote and the transparency of the counting and tabulation processes.
While the setup of the voting booths has been changed to impede vote
buying and multiple voting there is some concern that this may lead
to voters inadvertently showing how they voted, especially if large
numbers of people are present in the poling stations. The delegation
saw a sample voting booth and was convinced that they are designed
according to international standards. However, it calls upon the
CEC to take all precautions to ensure the secrecy of the vote
on Election Day. Moreover, while the Central Election Commission
(CEC) has made laudable efforts to increase the transparency of the
tabulation process, these measures did not work fully satisfactorily
during the previous Parliamentary Elections. The delegation hopes
that the technical problems then encountered have been overcome and
recommend that the CEC sets a minimal timeframe during which the
results protocols have to be publicly posted at the polling stations.
The Election Code ensures a balanced composition of all election
commissions, but it was noted that this balance was not reflected in
the composition of the leadership troikas of the Territorial Election
Commissions. The delegation hopes that this imbalance will not be
repeated at the level of the Precinct Election Commissions.
Democratic elections demand a level playing field between all
candidates during, but not limited to, the legal campaign period. The
delegation therefore regrets the clearly imbalanced media coverage
on most broadcast media, including public television, before the
official campaign period, as was reported by several monitoring
organisations, including by the Election Observation Mission of the
OSCE/ODIHR whose findings published in its first interim report the
delegation fully supports.
The delegation heard several complaints that the current Prime
Minister, who is a Presidential candidate, would have unfair campaign
advantages as a result of his decision to maintain his position as
Prime Minister during the campaign period. While recognising the
legality of the current Prime Minister to continue his functions
despite being a candidate, it adds to the responsibility of the
government to avoid any perception that administrative resources
are abused in favour of, or against, any particular candidate. The
delegation welcomes that, till now, the election campaign has taken
place in an open and unimpeded climate, but took note of reports
by some candidates about their difficulties in obtaining campaign
offices in some regions.
The delegation is confident that the authorities will address the
concerns of the delegation and will continue its efforts to organise
fully democratic Presidential Elections that will have the full
confidence of the Armenian people.
The delegation would like to thank the authorities for their
co-operation and assistance during this visit. The Parliamentary
Assembly will return to Armenia to observe the Presidential elections
with a 30 member delegation.