Armenian parliament chair says violations at parliamentary elections are possible

Read it in Russian

Armenia’s society has been developing at a faster rate than its political forces, Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, Member of the Republican Party Tigran Torossyan said at a news conference on March 15, adding that society is prepared for qualitatively new elections.

A REGNUM correspondent quotes him as saying that the forthcoming parliamentary elections in Armenia are of exclusive significance, as, first of all, they will determine the way the country will be developing within next 20-25 years. “The balance of political forces in the parliament, formation of the coalition government are secondary issues; today, the top priority is to conduct fair elections,” the speaker said. European institutions are closely watching the election process; leadership of Challenges of the Millennium project says that the program can be suspended, if the elections are held with violations. At the same time, fair elections are necessary, first of all, for Armenia, the speaker said adding “it is more important than several million dollars.”

At the same time, Torossyan did not rule out a possibility that violations can occur at the elections, particularly, by supporters and members of the Armenian Republican Party (RPA). “RPA has several dozens thousands members; it is impossible to control each of them and avouch for everyone,” Torossyan noted. According to him, the key task of all political forces is to respond to violations as soon as possible, prevent from them and not to allow them affecting the quality of the forthcoming elections.