ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 4, 2012 Friday 01:34 AM GMT+4
Over 170 CIS observers to monitor elections in Armenia
YEREVAN May 4
A total of 173 CIS observers will monitor the parliamentary elections
that will be held in Yerevan on Sunday.
Armenian President Serzh Sargzyan expressed confidence that the work
of the CIS observer mission will be productive. “We have done all to
have high-quality elections in accordance with free and democratic
principles,” the president said when he received on Thursday the head
of the mission, first deputy chairman of the CIS Executive Committee
Vladimir Garkun, and the head of the mission’s headquarters Yevgeny
Sloboda.
This is necessary so that “the results of the elections inspire
confidence in our people as well as in our partners,” the presidential
press service quoted him as saying. “This is very important for us,”
the president said.
CIS officials gave high marks to activity of the Armenian Central
Election Commission. The electoral code of the country has undergone
major changes. A monitoring of the CIS mission of observers has shown
that the election campaign proceeds calmly, Garkun said, noting a
contribution of mass media to that. According to him, “equal
conditions have been ensured in media for all candidates,” while the
work of the central and regional election commissions has been “open
and transparent”.
“We are making every effort to make these elections qualitatively
different from previous ones,” Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisyan said at
talks with CIS mission officials. He noted that the presence of
observers from the Commonwealth of Independent States is a major
support for spreading objective information about the elections, the
government press service said.
The interlocutors also discussed the agenda of a session of the
Council of the CIS Heads of Government that will be held in Ashgabat
(Turkmenistan) on May 30.