UK Minister of State welcomes results of parliamentary elections held  in Armenia

ArmInfo. Sir Alan Duncan, Minister of State for European and American Affairs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, welcomes the results  of the parliamentary elections held in Armenia. This is reported on  the Facebook page of the British Embassy in Armenia.

"The United Kingdom (UK) welcomes the preliminary conclusion of the  international observation mission, according to which the  parliamentary elections in Armenia on December 9, 2018" were held in  compliance with fundamental freedoms and enjoyed wide public  confidence, "the statement said.The UK government is pleased that, as  a member of an international consortium, it has supported the  preparatory work for the conduct of elections by providing financial  assistance to the program "Support for electoral processes in  Armenia."According to Sir Alan Duncan, these elections marked a new  important stage in the democratic development of Armenia. "I  congratulate the My Step bloc headed by Nikol Pashinyan for an  impressive victory, as well as other political parties that have  entered the parliament," he said.

The government of the NC wishes to hope for close cooperation with  the new Cabinet and the Parliament of Armenia in order to further  promote the strengthening of democratic structures, as well as the  implementation of ambitious political and economic reforms for the  benefit of the people of Armenia.Recall that on December 9, early  parliamentary elections were held in Armenia. 9 parties and 2 blocs  took part in them. "There have not been any elections in Armenia as  of December 9," the OSCE / ODIHR / OSCE Head of Observation Mission,  Ambassador Ursula Gacek said at a news conference, presenting an  assessment of the international observation mission regarding early  parliamentary elections.  According to the OSCE / ODIHR preliminary  conclusion, the extraordinary parliamentary elections on December 9  were held in compliance with fundamental freedoms and enjoyed the  confidence of the general public, which should be preserved during  future electoral reforms. 

Open political debates, including in the media, promoted an active  campaign, despite the fact that cases of provocative rhetoric on the  Internet gave cause for concern. The general absence of cases of  deliberate electoral fraud, including bribes and pressure on voters,  made real competition possible. The report also notes that, despite  the short timeframe, the elections were well organized, the election  day was calm and peaceful, without pressure and intimidation of  voters.Recall that the program "Support to electoral processes in  Armenia" was financed by the Government of Armenia, the EU, Germany,  the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Sweden.  They respectively allocated $ 0.7 million, 1.5 million euros, 0.7  million euros, 0.5 million pounds sterling and 1.5 million Swedish  crowns. For financial support to European countries, the Cabinet of  Ministers of Armenia appealed. Financial support is mainly aimed at  technical support of the elections and increasing the level of  electoral literacy of citizens.