Azerbaijani delegation head reminds PACE about Hayrikyan
Azerbaijani delegates were the last to address the opening of the Spring Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). All the registered delegates who did not have an opportunity to address the Strasbourg-based PACE session can submit their speeches in written form.
PACE delegates today debated the Election Observation Report on the presidential election in Armenia authored by the Ad hoc Committee of the Bureau.
Semid Seyidov, Head of the Azerbaijani delegation to the PACE, announced that they are well aware of the events taking place in the neighboring country (Armenia) and advised PACE delegates to open their eyes.
"It is written in the report that "Election day was calm and peaceful overall." Have you forgotten about the assassination attempt upon one of the presidential candidates?" he said meaning Paruyr Hairikyan.
In her report, Karin Woldseth (Norway, EDG), head of the mission which observed the election, welcomes in particular that the candidates were able to campaign without hindrance, that the public media provided balanced coverage and that election day was calm and peaceful.
The report approved today by the Assembly does point out, however, that "a number of shortcomings" were observed, in particular "abuse of administrative resources" and "interference in the election process by candidate proxies and supporters". In addition, the Assembly regretted that voters saw their possible choices narrowed by the decision of major political parties not to present candidates.
PACE urged the Armenian authorities to address these shortcomings, which undermine public trust in the electoral process, in order to ensure that they do not resurface in future elections, whether at national, local or regional level. It also asked the authorities to investigate all allegations of electoral fraud and misconduct and to punish any perpetrators.
The full report is available here
