Monitoring results anger CEC Secretary
Armenia's Central Election Commission (CEC) is displeased with the findings of the Transparency International Anti-corruption Center that monitored the May 6 parliamentary elections in Armenia.
"The figures are inadmissible for us as statistical data cannot be compared with absolute numbers. Likewise, the number of voters cannot be compared with the country's population. We do not know such a methodology," CEC Secretary Armen Smbatyan said during today's discussion.
The CEC official left after expressing his discontent, saying he did not want to interrupt the event.
"Perhaps Mr Smbatyan thinks that we have decided to announce about deliberate violations, based on the results of the monitoring. No, we say that we certain doubts and we should first reveal the reasons for these suspicious cases and then prevent their repetition in the future," said Varuzhan Hoktanyan, Executive Director of Transparency International Anti-corruption Center.
Although the center recorded numerous violations during the parliamentary elections, it cannot state that they were intentional. The center also believes that the findings can help fix and address faults ahead of the 2013 presidential elections.
