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THERE IS A NEED FOR WATCHING INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS IN THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
http://www.aravot.am/en/2013/01/15/149676/
JANUARY 15, 2013 13:56
The National Center for Parliamentarism in Armenia released a statement
the other day, in which it informs about an initiative to establish
a commission to supervise the activities of the OSCE/ODIHR monitoring
mission. This initiative is caused by the fact that the OSCE/ODIHR has
carried out monitoring in Armenia since 1996, but since that year all
the national elections in the Republic of Armenia have been described
as illegitimate.
The statement reads: "So either the OSCE/ODIHR makes incompetent
proposals or the government of the Republic of Armenia doesn't carry
those out. In particular, it came out recently that none of the
proposals or directions of the OSCE/ODIHR had been carried out. So
we conduct an election in opposition to the OSCE requirements and
obligations, as it is mentioned in the final report of the OSCE/ODIHR
on the 2012 parliamentary election. Under these circumstances, the
contradictory statements in the introductory speech made by the head of
the OSCE/ODIHR delegation to this election during a press conference
a few days ago raise concerns. By the way, if we change the name of
that delegation's head with the name of the same delegation's head to
the previous election, nothing will change, those are the same banal
statements, particularly 'we have come to observe, not to criticize,'
or 'we will be impartial' etc. It seems we don't understand that
'alphabet.' As a result, Ambassador
Heidi Tagliavini not only treats our society disrespectfully,
but also doesn't explain a set of important organizational issues,
as well as gives untimely assessments, violating the provisions of
their own Guidelines."
The statement also informs: "We have established a group within the
framework of the Commission for Legitimacy of Elections (CLE) to
supervise the activities of the OSCE/ODIHR mission, which mainly aims
at informing the international community and the Armenian public about
the mission's activities." www.aravot.am inquired of Ruben Torosyan,
the leader of the Human Rights-96 Party and a member of the Armenian
National Congress (ANC) political council, whether this group's
work could yield positive results and fulfill its task. Mr. Torosyan
replied: "The establishment of the group is just a formality, since,
despite that, we have been monitoring the international observers'
compliance with the Armenian and international laws for a long time;
it has been mentioned in all our reports. By the way, with regard to
the illegal activities of international observers during the 2005
constitutional referendum, we filed a lawsuit in the International
Criminal Court. We also inform the international community about the
seriousness of the issue. Two members of our organization, as well as
our 3 international partners, experts, are involved in the group. We
think that quickly spreading information about international observers'
activities is a good result, since, unfortunately, they decide the
result of our voting."
In response to our question whether the situation in the country was
so tense that they even had to watch observers, Mr. Torosyan said the
following: "The situation is so tense that neither candidates, nor the
mass media, nor local and international observers respond to massive
violations of the OSCE standards committed by the government. And
international observers state without any consideration that they
predict 'good' elections.
"Whereas the government is engaged in massive propaganda that this
election 'is noncompetitive,' i.e. it doesn't comply with the OSCE
standards and thus is illegitimate."
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
http://www.aravot.am/en/2013/01/15/149676/
JANUARY 15, 2013 13:56
The National Center for Parliamentarism in Armenia released a statement
the other day, in which it informs about an initiative to establish
a commission to supervise the activities of the OSCE/ODIHR monitoring
mission. This initiative is caused by the fact that the OSCE/ODIHR has
carried out monitoring in Armenia since 1996, but since that year all
the national elections in the Republic of Armenia have been described
as illegitimate.
The statement reads: "So either the OSCE/ODIHR makes incompetent
proposals or the government of the Republic of Armenia doesn't carry
those out. In particular, it came out recently that none of the
proposals or directions of the OSCE/ODIHR had been carried out. So
we conduct an election in opposition to the OSCE requirements and
obligations, as it is mentioned in the final report of the OSCE/ODIHR
on the 2012 parliamentary election. Under these circumstances, the
contradictory statements in the introductory speech made by the head of
the OSCE/ODIHR delegation to this election during a press conference
a few days ago raise concerns. By the way, if we change the name of
that delegation's head with the name of the same delegation's head to
the previous election, nothing will change, those are the same banal
statements, particularly 'we have come to observe, not to criticize,'
or 'we will be impartial' etc. It seems we don't understand that
'alphabet.' As a result, Ambassador
Heidi Tagliavini not only treats our society disrespectfully,
but also doesn't explain a set of important organizational issues,
as well as gives untimely assessments, violating the provisions of
their own Guidelines."
The statement also informs: "We have established a group within the
framework of the Commission for Legitimacy of Elections (CLE) to
supervise the activities of the OSCE/ODIHR mission, which mainly aims
at informing the international community and the Armenian public about
the mission's activities." www.aravot.am inquired of Ruben Torosyan,
the leader of the Human Rights-96 Party and a member of the Armenian
National Congress (ANC) political council, whether this group's
work could yield positive results and fulfill its task. Mr. Torosyan
replied: "The establishment of the group is just a formality, since,
despite that, we have been monitoring the international observers'
compliance with the Armenian and international laws for a long time;
it has been mentioned in all our reports. By the way, with regard to
the illegal activities of international observers during the 2005
constitutional referendum, we filed a lawsuit in the International
Criminal Court. We also inform the international community about the
seriousness of the issue. Two members of our organization, as well as
our 3 international partners, experts, are involved in the group. We
think that quickly spreading information about international observers'
activities is a good result, since, unfortunately, they decide the
result of our voting."
In response to our question whether the situation in the country was
so tense that they even had to watch observers, Mr. Torosyan said the
following: "The situation is so tense that neither candidates, nor the
mass media, nor local and international observers respond to massive
violations of the OSCE standards committed by the government. And
international observers state without any consideration that they
predict 'good' elections.
"Whereas the government is engaged in massive propaganda that this
election 'is noncompetitive,' i.e. it doesn't comply with the OSCE
standards and thus is illegitimate."
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN