PACE to observe presidential election in Armenia

A 27-member delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), headed by John Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC), will visit Armenia from 18 to 20 February 2008 to observe the presidential election together with observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) and the European Parliament.
 
The delegation members will meet the candidates in the election, the Chairman of the Central Election Commission and representatives of NGOs and the media; they will then travel to various parts of the country to observe the conduct of the poll on 19 February.
 
A PACE pre-election delegation which visited Yerevan from 29 to 31 January 2008 said that it was “heartened by the clearly expressed will of the authorities to hold fully democratic elections in line with Armenia’s commitments to the Council of Europe”. But it felt that continued efforts were needed in organising the elections so as to ensure public confidence in the electoral process.