"We witnessed disgrace"
Amalia Kostanian, Chairwoman of Transparency's Armenian affiliate, the Center for Regional Development (CRD), thinks that the Yerevan municipal elections were conducted with unprecedented election frauds.
"The elections cannot be compared with the previous ones. I must confess that we witnessed a deep disgrace during the mayoral elections."
"Technologies are improving, methods of falsification are changing but precinct 8 in Malatia-Sebastia commune was unique with its large-scale frauds. Surely, different technologies were applied during the election but it was done so cynically that they didn't even care to conceal anything from the observers. They openly discussed the figures, there was a vast ballot stuffing, crowding at polling stations, threats and intimidations. We even witnessed cases of bribery.
Mrs. Kostanian says the main wrongdoers haven't been punished yet though a few people were arrested.
Asked whether a re-election may be announced after invalidating the election results at precinct 8, Mrs. Kostanian said: "I think it is needless to speak of figures. The atmosphere of the elections, the cynicism, intimidation and immorality already speak of the elections. If elections are rigged in one precinct we can say that the elections are disqualified in the country.
Our readers can read the whole interview in A1+'s blog http://a1plus.wordpress.com/
