France, Strasburg, 17 April /corr. Trend A.Maherremli, I.Alizadeh / If the Government of Armenia does not free the representatives of opposition who were arrested after presidential elections and does not fulfill obligations undertaken before the Council of Europe, the country's delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) may be deprived of voting right.
"If Armenia does not implement the requirements and recommendations of the Council of Europe and does not demonstrate certain advancements, during June session of the PACE the Monitoring Committee will consider the issue of freezing the voting right of the country. Trust in Armenia as Council of Europe member-country is under doubts," French MP Jorge Jolombe said during extraordinary discussions in PACE session regarding presidential elections in Armenia.
The report 11579 'Activity of international institutions in Armenia' reflecting the events which took place in Armenia after presidential elections was devised by French MP Jorge Jolombe and British MP Jon Prescott.
The British MP said that it needs to come to a consensus in the issue of freezing the voting right of Armenia in PACE, and therefore, extraordinary discussions should be held at PACE. "Today there is not trust in democratic institutions in Armenia. Today we should well study those which take place in Armenia. It needs to hold special studies to clarify the situation. Holding such studies may strengthen trust in democratic institutions. The Council of Europe and generally the international community may help the studies at the level of special monitoring," Prescott added.
He said that if the situation continues in this form, it will bring serious harms to Armenia's image as a member of the Council of Europe. "Our recommendations to Armenia are that if it does not positively react to our suggestions, we will highlight them until the next session," Prescott said.
After making several changes and additions of recommendation character, the Resolution was adopted with 93 votes.
On 19 Feb, presidential elections were held in Armenia. The Central Election Commission said that Serj Sarkisyan, the former premier and a candidate from the government won the elections by gaining 52.2% of votes. The supporters of former president Levon Ter-Petrosyan, a key candidate from the opposition, did not accept the election outcome and staged uninterrupted demonstrations. The peaceful demonstrations were dispersed by the law enforcement agencies at night from 1 to 2 March resulting in death of 9 people and hundreds of people being wounded and arrested.
The correspondent can be contacted at: [email protected]