As we have informed, on September 21, the initiative “Justice within Armenia” created by the initiative of Diaspora Armenian cultural figures is aimed at carrying out an observation mission in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Canadian-Armenian actress and producer Arsine Khanjyan, the wife of Atom Egoyan, informed that more than 4000 Diaspora Armenians have signed underneath this petition. Among these people, there are also notables of Diaspora such as soloist of “System of a Down” rock band, musician Serj Tankian, one of the founders of the “Justice within Armenia” initiative, Atom Egoyan, and others. The Diaspora celebrities, in addition to the willing to carry out an observer mission, have also announced about the major problems existing in the election process in Armenia and the problems related to the participation of the Diaspora Armenians in the voting process.
Aravot.am asked the President of the RA Central Election Commission (CEC), Tigran Mukuchyan, whether the RA legislation allows the Diaspora Armenian figures to carry out an observation mission. Mr. Mukuchyan replied, “All the opportunities, obligations and rights for carrying out an observation mission are spelled out in the Electoral Code (EC). The rest are theoretical judgments. I theoretically cannot voice such a question or give any answer. It is necessary to understand what the status is, how they come, in what form they apply and so on. All these are problems which will be possible to answer after looking at specific documents and determining their compliance with the Electoral Code when the CEC will make a corresponding decision.”
Note that Article 30 of Chapter 6 of the EC reads that the following shall have the right to observation missions during elections: “(1) international organizations whose charter objectives include issues of democracy and protection of human rights; (2) foreign non-governmental organizations and those of the Republic of Armenia whose charter objectives include issues related to democracy and protection of human rights and which do not support candidates or political parties running in elections; (3) representatives of electoral bodies of other states. Organizations and bodies referred to in part 1 of this Article may carry out observation mission upon invitation. ”
The legislation also defines who are entitled to send an invitation. Accordingly, the President of the Republic, the Chairperson of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister and the Central Electoral Commission shall be entitled to invite the organizations and bodies referred to in part 1 of this Article to carry out observation mission. To the question of whether there are already applications sent, the CEC President replied, “At this point, there is no process, therefore there could be no application.” To our reminder that the prominent figures of the Diaspora Armenians have serious concerns regarding the electoral processes in Armenia, and to the question of what measures are taken to overcome these problems, Mr. Mukuchyan refrained from answering. He only conveyed, “We do not have the eligibility to present political assessments or make judgments.”
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Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
