Armenia faction critical of PACE interim statement on Armenia  elections

ArmInfo. The Armenia parliamentary faction responded to the interim statement of the  delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe  (PACE), following its visit to Yerevan on May 11-12 regarding the  upcoming elections in the country on June 7. The opposition faction  accused PACE of a one-sided assessment of the situation in Armenia  and of making baseless claims.

"We bring to your attention a number of points that were omitted from the PACE election observation delegation's assessment, as well as a number of unfounded assertions  contained in the statement, which are presented as factual reality,  making it vulnerable and one-sided," the faction said in a statement.

In this regard, the political force stated that PACE's assertions  that "constructive cooperation" was established between "the Armenian  authorities and interested parties" in the lead-up to the June 7  elections are baseless in a context where the authorities are using  the full range of punitive measures against opposition forces  participating in the elections: criminal prosecution, incitement to  hatred, obscene language contrary to basic decency, and persecution.

"The observations and assessments presented are too vague, general,  and superficial, failing to take into account the systemic nature of  the problems. Moreover, we are not talking about isolated episodes or  a 'tense political atmosphere,' but rather about consistent  government policies aimed solely at self-reproduction. These include  administrative control and repressive institutional pressure,  selective justice, restrictions on dissent, and political  persecution.

"Equality is effectively being established between the government and  the opposition under conditions where the government completely  controls the state system, abuses administrative resources, law  enforcement agencies, a significant portion of the information space,  and the main instruments for shaping the political agenda," the  Armenia faction noted.

At the same time, the political force expressed the conviction that  non-targeted assessments do not restrain, but rather encourage, the  current government, creating an atmosphere of international tolerance  and impunity, which is not conducive to the implementation of the  principle of democratic elections during this period.

At the same time, the Armenia faction expressed bewilderment at the  fact that some concerns of opposition political forces were recorded  as simply "heard" realities, while the government's theses were  recorded as confirmed facts, and a number of oral and written  comments presented by their members during the meeting were not taken  into account.

The political force noted that they had drawn the attention of the  PACE delegates to the deepening of the authoritarian regime in  Armenia and the concentration of all branches of government in the  hands of the executive, the dependence of the judiciary and electoral  justice, amendments to the Electoral Code adopted two months before  the elections, the expansion of discretionary powers granted to the  Central Election Commission in accrediting domestic observers,  widespread abuse of administrative resources and public funds by the  authorities before and during the election campaign, unequal access  to the media, selective or inconsistent application of rules on  donations and charity.

They also noted the manipulation of security rhetoric and the  creation of an atmosphere of fear by the current prime minister and  administration, the intimidation of the population with threats of  war if other candidates are elected, public instructions to the  prosecutor's office and law enforcement agencies, and statements  about the imprisonment or punishment of political opponents.

"The statement's assertion about the 'unprecedented involvement of  the Armenian Apostolic Church in politics' is completely unfounded  and unbalanced. However, a balanced response would have required the  PACE statement to address the unconstitutional actions and repression  against the Armenian Apostolic Church and its leader, His Holiness  the Patriarch, including the illegal promise to force His Holiness to  resign, included in the Civil Contract election platform.

We hope that the PACE observation mission, which strives for the  absolute value of democracy and, in particular, the formation of a  government based on free will, will base its further observations on  a more in-depth, well-founded, and comprehensive study," the  opposition faction stated.