Letter to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe
00:00, November 28, 2005 | Electoral Rights
Dear Mr T. Davis,
With this letter I want to express my deep concern on the conclusions (28.11.2005) of the observers of the Council of Europe on the Constitutional Referendum held in the Republic of Armenia, in my own country on November 27, 2005. I am concerned on the thing that according to the observers “the referendum generally reflected the free will of those who voted” which principally does not correspond to the reality, as the majority of the voters (70-80%) did not take part in the elections.
At the same time I am sending you the announcement of our organization and our observations carried out in Vanadzor. I regret that by the fault of the Armenian authorities there were no many observers of the Council of Europe represented, they were only 14. In this respect, I cannot agree on the part mentioned in the announcement by the group, as if they visited around 150 polling stations (even if it was possible physically it could not give the opportunity to get the full picture) and I can’t agree on the what is mentioned “the general atmosphere was calm and no incidents of public disorder were witnessed. In the majority of polling stations visited the conduct of the poll was in compliance with international
standards”.
I want to state that our organization also met with the delegation, during which I presented the possible ways of violations and their geography.
I hope that the data presented by our organization will give you the opportunity to have a more complete picture on the Referendum held in Armenia.
Yours sincerely,
Coordinator of the organization
Arthur Sakunts