Armenia’s early parliamentary elections marred by aggressive rhetoric, int'l observers say

Armenia’s early parliamentary elections marred by aggressive rhetoric, int
# 21 June 2021 16:48 (UTC +04:00)

Armenia’s early parliamentary elections were characterized by intense polarization and marred by increasingly inflammatory language from key contestants, as well as by the sidelining of women throughout the campaign, says the statement of joint observation mission from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), APA quotes press service of OSCE.

It was said that Armenia’s early parliamentary elections were competitive and well-managed within a short time frame: "However, they were characterized by intense polarization and marred by increasingly inflammatory language from key contestants, as well as by the sidelining of women throughout the campaign."

The observers noted that the electoral legal framework is generally comprehensive, but some shortcomings still remain. While recent changes in the electoral system were broadly debated and supported by the majority of political parties and civil society groups, the fact that amendments were adopted so close to the elections caused legal uncertainty and left little time to implement the new rules or inform voters about the changes."

According to the statement, during the brief campaign period, candidates were able to campaign freely, and the fundamental freedoms key to democratic elections were generally respected: "In some cases there was pressure on workers in both the private and public sector to take part in specific campaign events, while allegations of vote buying and the misuse of state resources continued throughout the campaign period. Despite the fact that women candidates were included in the party lists, observers noted that their visibility during the campaign was markedly low."

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THE OPERATION IS BEING PERFORMED