The Armenian authorities have started to “choose” between international structures. It turns out that not everyone has been invited to observe the upcoming constitutional amendments referendum being held on November 27. The OSCE, who has always played the role of observer during all elections that go on in the region, has not been invited by the Armenian authorities.
Generally, according to Armenian legislation, the “law about referendums” states that Armenian political parties, NGOs and representatives of foreign states and international organizations can be considered as observers during elections going on in Armenia. If the local organizations and political parties apply to the Central Electoral Committee in order to get credentials, the Armenian authorities and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia have the right to send invitations to the international organizations for observing Armenian elections. There are not going to be any trusted people during the referendum. Basically, the people in favor of voting “yes” or “no” can be considered as observers. As for the number of observers, that depends on the list presented by the organizations. In other words, the number is unlimited.
We found out from the Central Electoral Committee of Armenia that only the Congress of the European Council (CEC) had been invited to the referendum as an observer. Ten congress members have already applied to the committee for credentials. Two political parties-the National Democratic Union and the Social-Democratic Hnchakyan political party and two NGOs (“The choice is yours” and “Liberal Hayk”) have sent their applications to the Central Electoral Committee. According to the committee’s press department, organizations have until November 17 to send their applications for credentials. So, there is still some time. But there is one thing we must take into account: the Armenian authorities don’t even want to invite OSCE observers. After all, out of all the international organizations present during the Azeri parliamentary elections held this past Sunday, only the OSCE started a racket about electoral falsifications and made criticisms. Of course, it is obvious that it will do the same at the referendum. The Central Electoral Committee informed us that the organizations could apply for credentials without the invitation. However, as stated by the office speaker of the Democracy and Human Rights department of the OSCE Urdur Gunarz Dotir during a conversation with a reporter from PanArmenian.net, “We usually get the invitation and then go as observers, but this time we have not received any invitation from the Armenian authorities.” Urdur Gunarz Dotir also noted the fact that they could have received an invitation from the presidential staff, the Foreign Ministry of Affairs or the Central Electoral Committee. However, the presidential staff of Armenia informed us that nothing like that is foreseen in the law about referendum, the “law code” or their charter. National Assembly representatives said that they could only invite the organizations that work with them, in this case, the CEC. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia claimed that that wasn’t the ministry’s responsibility. But the Central Electoral Committee says that they don’t have those powers. “There is still time until November 17,” said Foreign Ministry speaker Hamlet Gasparyan. As for the OSCE’s Yerevan branch, the representatives are not making any comments on the decisions made by the Armenian authorities. Gohar Avagyan, who is the correspondent of the press department of the OSCE’s Yerevan branch, said the following: “According to the Copenhagen agreement, the countries included in that agreement must invite observers during elections, but there is nothing about referendums. It depends on the country’s desire,” said G. Avagyan. However, we must take into account that the countries do not wish to participate and the Armenian authorities are scared of the truth and criticism.