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ODIHR recommends Armenian authorities to refrain from management reserves misuse

Armenia Materials 11 May 2013 10:27 (UTC +04:00)
Armenian officials should refrain from misuse of management reserves, including misuse of their official position in relation to their employees and the public, the final report of the observation mission of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the OSCE on the results of the presidential elections in Armenia says,
ODIHR recommends Armenian authorities to refrain from management reserves misuse

Armenian officials should refrain from misuse of management reserves, including misuse of their official position in relation to their employees and the public, the final report of the observation mission of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the OSCE on the results of the presidential elections in Armenia says, Armenia Today reported.

The report includes 27 recommendations, which are aimed at assisting the authorities, political parties and civil society of Armenia in their efforts to hold elections in accordance with OSCE commitments and other standards for democratic elections.

The presidential elections were held in Armenia on February 18. According to the official results, the incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan won the presidential elections with 58.64 percent of the votes. The leader of 'Heritage' party Raffi Hovannisian who ranked second with 36.74 percent didn't recognize the results and declared 'Revolution of Smiles and Greetings'.

ODIHR expresses its concern about biased administration and cases of pressure on voters.

According to the report, Armenian authorities should take measures on increasing the level of public confidence in the integrity of the electoral process by showing greater respect to the citizens' right to express their fundamental civil and political preferences, as required by paragraph 7.7 of the OSCE Copenhagen Document of 1990.

It is necessary to take effective measures to ensure the impartiality of public administration, public officials and local government representatives. They should refrain from putting pressure on the voters, both during the campaign and on the election day. The Criminal Code needs amendments, which stipulating that misuse of power and management reserves for agitation is a criminal offense, the report says.

Electoral commissions, the police and courts, according to the final report, should interpret, implement and observe the electoral legal framework taking into account the meaning and purpose of the law to ensure equal conditions for all participants of the elections, voters' free expression and fairness of the electoral process.

The report highlights that the authorities should ensure the development and application of mechanism ensuring a clear separation between the state and the party, as required by paragraph 5.4 of the OSCE Copenhagen Document of 1990.

According to the report, in order to provide the public confidence in the integrity of the voter registration process, interested parties including government officials, political parties, civil society, candidates have to be engaged in public debates and decision-making process involving all sides in order to solve specific and controversial aspects of voters registration ( in particular, registration of voters living abroad, publication of voter lists and making them accessible by other means).

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