DECLARATION OF RA MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS ON OCCASION OF OSCE/ODIHR INTERIM REPORT
Noyan Tapan
March 10, 2008
YEREVAN, MARCH 10, NOYAN TAPAN. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
the Republic of Armenia, has made a declaration on the occasion of
the OSCE/ODIHR Interim Report, which we present completely:
"The OSCE/ODIHR Interim Report reaffirms that Armenia’s presidential
elections were Basically in line with Armenia’s international
commitments
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs that OSCE/ODIHR Election
Observation Mission has released its third interim report on Armenia’s
Presidential elections. The report reaffirms the ODIHR Election
Observation Mission’s assessment that the February 19 Presidential
election "was administered mostly in line with OSCE and Council of
Europe commitments and standards."
The government of Armenia notes that some of the problems cited in
this post-election interim report have already been at the center of
attention by certain law enforcement bodies, and that appropriate
steps are taken to respond, including to criminally charge some of
those responsible for certain electoral irregularities.
At the same time, Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that in
spite of the government’s repeated inquiries, the government has not
been provided with the identifying numbers of 13 of the 17 precincts
where, according to the report, the counting process was "bad" or
"very bad", and therefore, without such information, the government
is unable to conduct the appropriate investigation.
The interim report also includes interpretative statements based on
unverified data. Thus, the report expresses doubt about the high
turnout in precincts 37/18, 37/29, 37/38 and 37/39. Prior to the
issuance of the report, the authorities had explained that there are
military posts in those precincts which naturally raises the numbers
of those voting, and thus the percentage of voter turnout in those
precincts can be not just near 100, but also in excess of 100 percent.
The Armenian government will closely examine each problem, as well
as inconsistency and error cited in the report, and will provide
comprehensive information about each both to the Armenian public and
to OSCE/ODIHR in order to assure that the final report is even more
objective and complete."