14:51 . 07/05
“CIS observer mission finds that the May 6, 2012 parliamentary elections of the Republic of Armenia were held in accordance with election legislation and democratic standards: Armenia is on the right path of democracy,” CIS observer mission chief Vladimir Garkun stated.
Free, fair and competitive elections were held in Armenia. The 170 observers of the mission have visited hundreds of polling stations and didn’t see any essential election violation. They only noticed some technical omissions.
But our camera, being only in a few polling stations, fixed women “on duty” outside the polling stations, who were making lists, making notes, meeting people outside the polling stations and accompanying them into the station. In Sari Tagh, people gathered in front of RPA’s headquarters started dispersing when they noticed the camera. The others said they had already voted but they didn’t receive the promised “small sum of 5000 AMD”. Of course, the observers didn’t see all this and think that no mass violations have taken place and the violations couldn’t have affected the final results of the elections.
“I am speaking about the violations which we have seen and about the violations, which the media have stated. CEC quickly responded to the ink which vanished soon, but the organizers should have thought about it beforehand. The fact that there were queues in some polling stations was not an omission but a result of activeness,” V, Garkun said.
Of course, there was activeness. But the queues were mostly connected with the fact that people were brought to the polling stations by mini buses. My example is again the polling station in Sari Tagh. N 117 mini buses were aligned before RPA’s headquarters near that polling station. The mission head also attached importance to the work of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Armenia.
“We are of the opinion that the prosecutor’s office has quickly responded to the complaints and alarms. In some cases criminal cases were initiated, and some cases are still being examined,” he said.
CIS observers also praised the work of the media. During a meeting with them, party representatives have presented no serious complaints on the work of the media during the campaign. According to the observers, Armenia has made a big step ahead holding free and transparent elections.
This was an anticipated assessment, as the observers see what they are offered, but it is us, the citizens of Armenia, who see and later feel what is taking place in reality.
