Serious efforts needed to restore public confidence, says ODIHR report on Armenian parliamentary elections

WARSAW, 1 August 2003 - Serious efforts must be made to improve the legal framework and conduct of elections in Armenia if public confidence in the electoral process there is to be restored, says the final report on the 25 May parliamentary elections issued by the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

Although there was an improvement as regards the campaign and media coverage over the presidential election earlier in the year, the parliamentary elections "fell short of international standards for democratic elections in a number of key respects, in particular the counting and tabulation of votes", the report concludes.

"The political leadership of the country made efforts to discourage violations, but perpetrators were again not held accountable," the report continues. "The authorities must end this atmosphere of impunity to give a clear sign of determination to meet their international commitments for democratic elections."

The report contains numerous concrete recommendations on how to improve Armenia's electoral framework. On a recent visit to Yerevan, the ODIHR's Director, Ambassador Christian Strohal, offered support in implementing the recommendations on the basis of the ongoing co-operation between his Office and the Armenian authorities and political parties.

The ODIHR, Europe's leading election monitoring institution, has observed elections in Armenia since 1996.