As Radio Free Liberty reports that on Friday Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe officially launched another vote monitoring mission in Armenia. The monitoring should essentially determine the international legitimacy of next month’s Armenian presidential election.
According to the report, ambassador Heidi Tagliavini of Switzerland has been named by the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to lead what will be the most important international team tasked with assessing the freedom and fairness of the February 18 vote. It will comprise 13 election experts and 24 long-term and some 250 short-term observers. The ambassador noted that it is very important for the election process to go according to the international standards and in compliance with Armenia’s commitments to the OSCE and Armenian laws.
The OSCE/ODIHR also monitored Armenia’s last parliamentary elections held in May. Its observation mission gave a mixed assessment of the election conduct, praising the election campaign but criticizing voting in a “considerable” number of polling stations.
The United States and the European Union have reacted more positively to the Armenian authorities’ handling of the May polls denounced as fraudulent by the Armenian opposition. They have said they hope that the presidential election will be even more democratic. In that regard, EU leaders have urged Yerevan to address OSCE observers’ recommendations in time for the ballot. The previous OSCE/ODIHR mission recommended the authorities to toughen legal punishment for vote buying and other irregularities and make voter lists more accurate.
