ArmInfo.The Chairman of the National Assembly of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan yesterday held meetings with the delegations of the observation mission of the Interparliamentary Assembly (IPA) of the CIS, the observation mission of the OSCE / ODIHR and the observation mission of the Parliamentary Assembly (PA) of the CSTO, who arrived in Armenia to observe the early parliamentary elections.
As reported by the press service of the Armenian parliament, at the meeting with the IPA CIS delegation, Mirzoyan noted that the Armenian side attaches great importance to the presence of the observation mission in Armenia, and reaffirmed the adherence of the ruling majority to the organization of free, fair and transparent elections. The Speaker of the National Assembly informed that the decision to hold early parliamentary elections was taken by all three parliamentary forces with the aim of restoring and strengthening internal stability in Armenia.
Taking this opportunity, the head of parliament presented to the CIS partners the processes that took place after the adoption of the trilateral statement on November 9, 2020. They touched upon the violation by Azerbaijan of the points of the statement, the delay in the process of repatriation of prisoners of war and other detainees, as well as the fact of Azerbaijan's invasion of the territory of the Republic of Armenia and the need to withdraw the Azerbaijani military from Armenia.
The head of the IPA CIS observation mission Igor Komarovsky thanked Mirzoyan for the invitation and presented the work already done by the observation mission.
General Secretary of the IPA CIS Dmitry Kobitsky expressed hope that early parliamentary elections will bring stability and progress to Armenia. He conveyed greetings on behalf of the Chairperson of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko.
At a meeting with the Head of the OSCE / ODIHR Observation Mission Eoghan Murphy and Deputy Head Stefan Krause, Mirzoyan, noting the presence of a large OSCE / ODIHR Observation Mission in Armenia, stressing the state's commitment to holding free, fair, transparent and democratic elections. Eoghan Murphy stated that during this time all state institutions have actively cooperated and supported the work of the mission, saying that tomorrow, in addition to long-term observers, another 300 short-term observers will carry out an observation mission at polling stations in Yerevan and in all regions of Armenia. At the same time, at a meeting with members of the CSTO PA observation mission, the NA Speaker highly appreciated the organization's readiness to conduct an observation mission in Armenia and assured that the elections will be free and transparent, in accordance not only with the RA legislation, but also with international standards. The head of the observation mission, deputy chairman of the Commission on International Affairs, Defense and Security of the Kyrgyz Parliament, Kanybek Imanaliev, said that they had already met with a number of political forces involved in the electoral process. He also stressed the importance of the existing trust in the conduct of fair elections. Welcoming Mirzoyan on behalf of the chairman of the Mejlis of Kazakhstan Nurlan Nigmatulin, member of the mission, secretary of the Commission on International Affairs, Defense and Security Mukhtar Tildabekuly Yerman expressed hope that a new page in Armenia's development will open following the results of the early parliamentary elections. During the meeting A. Mirzoyan touched upon the situation after the tripartite statement of November 9, exchanged views on the agenda of the upcoming meeting of the CSTO PA Council.