ArmInfo.The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe at the first meeting of the winter session discussed the results of the work of the organization's observers at the early parliamentary elections held on December 9, 2018 in Armenia, as well as at the presidential elections in Georgia (October 28 and November 28).
French MP Nicole Duranton called the report prepared by the head of the PACE observation mission, Aleksander Pociej, on early parliamentary elections in Armenia, full and balanced. The MP, however, expressed concern about the low turnout in the elections.
"The elections were well organized, based on freedom of choice and pluralism of media opinions, however, we have concerns about excessively aggressive rhetoric in the media and social networks," Duranton said, adding that the elections were also successful for developing democracy in Armenia.
In turn, the Slovenian MP Andrej Sircelj, who is a member of the PACE observation mission, stressed the importance of the debate, broadcast live on Public Television of Armenia. The debate lasted 3 hours and was attended by the first numbers of the electoral lists. "Nevertheless, the rhetoric of hate during the election campaign was noticeable - especially in the comments to the materials that were published in the online media," the MP said, stressing that the elections in Armenia were calm and peaceful. The Azerbaijani delegates also spoke very ethically, who this time brought down their criticism not on Armenia, but on the PACE in connection with the positive reports and speeches on the previous elections in Armenia. In response to the speeches of the members of the Azerbaijani delegation, the representative of the delegation of the National Assembly of Armenia to PACE Edmon Marukyan noted that he was pleased to see how colleagues from Azerbaijan follow democratic developments in Armenia and wished Azerbaijan a "velvet revolution" - and the sooner the better for their wellbeing.