ARMENIA: Armenia's election democratic improvement say Western monitors

Pro-presidential parties set to win Armenia vote. Pro-presidential parties have won a large majority in Armenia's parliamentary elections, the country's election commission said on Sunday (May 13), a vote Western monitors described as a vast democratic improvement. The expected winner in the election -- viewed as a dress rehearsal for the presidential vote next year -- is Prime Minister Serzh Sarksyan who heads the Republican party, which is projected to win around 40 percent of the vote. Sarksyan is a 52-year-old former welder and a trusted lieutenant of Armenia's President Robert Kocharyan who steps down as leader next year. He has said he would enter a presidential election if his party asked him to. The Republican party's two allies have polled around 35 percent together, the election commission said. International observers had urged it to improve the fairness of its parliamentary elections, saying the 2003 vote fell well short of democratic standards. Tone Tingsgaard, of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) monitoring team told reporters at a news conference on Sunday that "The Armenian elections were an improvement from previous elections and were conducted largely in accordance with international standards for democratic elections. Voting on election day took place in a predominantly calm atmosphere. The conduct of the voting was assessed positively in the vast majority of polling stations observed. And the vote counts, although very slow, was mostly conducted in a correct manner," she said. "All this is good for the young Armenian democracy, however some issues remain unaddressed and more work is needed to further consolidate this democracy. This will require joint efforts and will by all political forces. I hope we will see that in the years ahead," she added. Observers highlighted the close relationship between businesses and politicians as a concern and an inadequate electoral complaints procedure. One of the pro-presidential parties is run by a millionaire businessman. Former Soviet Armenia is Russia's main ally in the Caucasus, nestling on the southern edge of the region which has emerged as a major transit route for oil from Central Asia to Europe, and also borders Turkey and Iran. Sarksyan had also pushed for improvements and at a news briefing on Sunday Western monitors said standards had risen. A fringe opposition group which wants to start proceedings to impeach the president, because its says he has failed the country with his policies, is not expected to win enough votes to clear the 5 percent barrier and enter parliament. Nikol Pashinyan, one of the leaders of the Impeachment party, said there had been voting violations and he promised street demonstrations. Impeachment supporters and police had clashed in the election run up but on Sunday the streets of Armenia's capital were quiet. Impeachment has a few thousand supporters. Simmering tensions burst to the surface last month when gunmen tried to kill a senior member of the Republican party and two blasts ripped through the offices of another pro-presidential party. The violence has revived memories of a 1999 shootout in parliament that killed the speaker and the prime minister.

ITN Source | May 13, 2007

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