The US Mission in the OSCE welcomed the efforts of the RA government and the opposition aimed at avoiding violence and urged them to maintain the peaceful situation.
The U.S. statement submitted to the OSCE’s Permanent Council in Vienna yesterday stated, “We welcome the fact that the authorities have so far refrained from using force against tens of thousands of protesters. This peaceful exercise of the freedom of assembly, coupled with effective, non-violent crowd management, is a notable achievement and a sign of democratic progress. We call on all sides to ensure that this peaceful situation continues.” “Although the administration of the election procedure was mostly in line with OSCE standards, key OSCE commitments, regarding the planning and execution of democratic elections, remain unmet in Armenia as noted in the OSCE observers’ preliminary findings,” it said. “We call on the Government and people of Armenia to address these concerns.” The statement pointed to instances of ballot stuffing, vote-buying multiple voting and voter intimidation reported by Armenian and foreign observers. It also cited “disturbing irregularities” reported during the recount of ballots in some polling stations. “Because of such real and perceived irregularities, we remain concerned that the level of trust among the Armenian electorate in their election process remains dangerously low,” added the statement. “These kinds of actions are not consistent with democratic principles, and we urge the Government of Armenia to uphold the rule of law and international democratic standards in proceeding on these cases,” it said. The authorities ordered the crackdown on the Ter-Petrosian-led opposition in response to its non-stop street protests in Yerevan which the former Armenian leader hopes will force a re-run of what he regards as a fraudulent vote. The U.S. mission further stated that the February 19 vote was “far from perfect” even if it was found by Western observers to have been administered “mostly in line” with democratic standards. The U.S. State Department’s initial reaction to the conduct of the election was clearly more positive, with a department spokesman congratulating Armenians on their “active and competitive” election. “Recently certain concerning violations were registered in certain polling stations as well as issues connected with civil liberties brought up by the OSCE.” “We are very concerned with the cases of arrests of certain oppositional politicians and violently shutting down of opposition headquarters on part of the government during the post-electoral period. Such activities do not correspond to democratic criteria and we urge the RA government to rely on the rule of law during their activities and base on international standards.” “In this regard we express our concern about the dangerously low level of interest of the public about the electoral processes.” “We encourage the RA government to transparently and openly investigate all the complaints as part of the reforms of electoral procedures and recovery of the trust of voters on electoral procedures. We support the efforts of the OSCE/ODIHR mission and looking forward to their interim and final reports regarding the appeal process. The US is willing to work with all the parties in Yerevan aimed at solving all these issues,” reads the OSCE statement.