YEREVAN (Armenpress)–Speaker of the National Assembly Khosrov Harutiunian–on Tuesday–met with a delegation of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly–which was overseeing the presidential election in Armenia.
The delegation reported its findings regarding the election–wherein it said that the March 16 presidential election in Armenia was held in accordance with Armenian law and generally met international requiremen’s.
Below is the translated text on that statement:
A delegation representing the Commonwealth of Independent States Interparliamentary Assembly was invited to monitor the March 16 presidential election in the Republic of Armenia.
The delegation was comprised of Russian Federation Council (Upper House) member Vitaly Nikolaevich Klimov (delegation head); Aleksander Viktorovich Kozyr–Belarussian National Assembly representative; Melik Carli Rayisian–Georgian Parliament member; and Bebybout Hazizi Jusabov–member of the Kazakhstan Senate.
During the election–the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly delegation visited Etchmiadzin–Yerevan–Abovyan–Sevan–as well as 15 electoral districts in the Kotayk and Gegharkounik districts of the Etchmiadzin region where it was able to monitor the election in a democratically open atmosphere–speak with voters–members of the electoral commissions–as well as candidate representatives. The delegation was also able to familiarize itself with relevant documen’s.
Delegation members visited the 6/2 (once at the onset of voting and once during counting of ballots)–5/7–11/19–7/6–3/2–2/10–2/5–2/6–2/9–2/1–3/24–1/18–1/16 and 45/1 voting stations.
Based on its monitoring the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly delegation stated that the election took place within the framework of the Armenian Constitution and Armenia’s law on presidential election–based on democratic norms–in an active and organized manner providing the voters with the opportunity to express their free will regarding their choice for the presidency of the Republic of Armenia. The CIS Interparliamentary Assembly delegation did not encounter any legal violations. Technical irregularities were observed only at 2/1 voting station where a crowd had developed at the ballot distribution booth.
Based on the aforementioned statemen’s–the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly delegation stated that special elections in the Republic of Armenia took place in accordance with the laws of the republic and were–in general–based on international legal norms.