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On April 17 the next meeting of the Monitoring Group adjunct to NA Speaker was held presided over by the Head of the Democratic Party of Armenia Aram Sargsyan. Besides the representatives of the political forces, NGOs and international organizations participating in the elections, the Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) Tigran Mukuchyan and the Chairman of the National Commission on Television and Radio (NCTR) Grigor Amalyan also participated in the meeting. NA Speaker Samvel Nikoyan has said that on March 7 a package of questions and proposals formed as a result of the debates of the NGOs has already been addressed to him by the NGOs. This package is related to non-unequivocal comments of a number of provisions of the Electoral Code, the authorities and functions of the CEC and NCTR in the electoral processes.

Tigran Mukuchyan and Grigor Amalyan gave exhaustive answers to the interpellations proposed by the NGOs. In particular, there was an interpellation on the participation of the soldiers in the elections, including, as if connected with the cases of open double voting of the latter. T. Mukuchyan has noted that at least the proxies’ and observers’ presence in polling stations excludes the opportunity of such cases. Besides, in the polling stations there is an opportunity to make video and photo shooting, and after voting an appropriate notice is made in military books. Regarding the notes made with pens of different colours on the voting papers, the CEC Chairman has said that all the polling stations are provided with pens, during the day they are provided if necessary, at the same time, the order enables the voter to make notes with his/her pen.

Tigran Mukuchyan has said that at present 17000 people have been registered as local observers, which is not the final number and will give opportunity to carry out monitoring in full volume. It was noted that an unprecedented number of cognitive material had been published, due to which the voter would have opportunity to know about his/her rights. In the CEC they respond to all the received applications stipulated by law, as well as the publications in the mass media. The CEC Chairman urged the political forces, the NGOs, the mass media to have facts in their statements, publications, reports and be free of spreading non specified news at the level of conversations and rumours. In his word, if there is goal to prevent the violations, then the concrete fact must be indicated.

Tigran Mukuchyan also touched upon the process of setting up the Electoral commissions, training courses and the transparency of the CEC activity. In this sense he highlighted the operation of the updated website of the Commission, which has essentially eased the following of the electoral processes.

NCTR Chairman Grigor Amalyan has presented the findings of ten-day monitoring of the programmes of the TV companies being implemented by the Commission, the methodology by which they are led while impelementing their functions.

“Our task is to prevent in time the possible violations in electoral processes, to provide the exact use of the Electoral Code at large.” The NA Speaker noted. In particular, he deemed concerning the news that clashes had already been registered between the parties. This problem also, according to Samvel Nikoyan, in the future, should be included in the agenda of the Monitoring Group for excluding similar cases.