The eighth issue on the agenda of the PACE Monitoring Commission meeting that took place on March 20 in Paris concerned Armenia. Axel Fischer and John Prescott, the co-rapporteurs on our country, put forward a report on the presidential election that had taken place in the Republic of Armenia on February 18. News was spread in the press that Elhan Suleymanov, the Azeri delegate, kicked up a row, ostentatiously leaving the conference hall. According to what Suleymanov told www.haqqin.az, he strongly criticized the results of the presidential election in Armenia and the position of the PACE in his speech, but Andreas Herkel presiding at the meeting interrupted Suleymanov’s speech and didn’t allow him to finish. Suleymanov left the meeting of the Commission in protest and expressed his complaint about the chairman of the meeting. www.aravot.am inquired during a conversation with Davit Harutyunyan, the head of the Armenian delegation to the PACE, what the assessment of the PACE representatives who had participated in the presidential election in Armenia had really been and how the Azeri delegate had behaved. Mr. Harutyunyan informed: “It was not the final report yet. The final report will be prepared and discussed at the April session. The issue was on the agenda of the PACE Monitoring Commission meeting in Paris as a part of presenting information about the press release. Opinions were expressed by all those who had participated in the election as a member of the observation mission.” We inquired whether their assessments had corresponded to the objective reality in Armenia. Mr. Harutyunyan replied: “They mainly shared their impressions of the election. Those were basically in the same style as the press release. Certainly, there were opinions, with which I did not agree, but I am sure, nonetheless, that they tried to give an objective assessment in the press release.” We inquired which assessments of the PACE representatives, in particular, D. Harutyunyan didn’t agree with. He gave the following answer: “When the conclusion is made public, I will talk about those disagreements.” Mr. Harutyunyan also went into detail about the format, in which the election in the Republic of Armenia would be discussed at the April session. He stated: “The issue of the Republic of Armenia will not be discussed separately. However, on the first day when there will be a discussion on the activities of the Bureau and the Standing Committee, the issue will be discussed, and the assessment of the presidential election in the Republic of Armenia will be presented.” Talking about the row kicked up by the Azeri delegate, Mr. Harutyunyan described it as “an ordinary and familiar
phenomenon” and went into detail: “Every time there is a discussion on the subject that has something to do or doesn’t have anything to do with the Republic of Armenia, they start the same talk about the 100% occupation etc. This time the Azeri delegate tried again to talk about those issues, and when the chairman said that we were not discussing that issue at all, it meant deviation from the subject, the Azeri delegate left the conference hall in protest.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
