On 20 March, Minister Oskanian received Ambassador Boris Frlec, who heads the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights / ODIHR/ Election Mission to Armenia.

Ambassador Frlec said that ODIHR deployed a long-term observation mission to Armenia for the May 12 parliamentary elections. On 19 March, OSCE /ODIHR opened their observation mission office and the first group of long-term observers arrived in Yerevan.

The observers will meet with the members of Central Electoral Commission, the media and with the political parties participating in the parliamentary elections. The mission will also work with the political parties that decided not to participate in the parliamentary elections.

ODIHR will also  provide 300 short-term observers to monitor the opening and closing of polling stations on election day, as well as the voting itself, the vote count, and the tabulation of results.

Minister Oskanian stressed the importance of the observation mission, and said that the Armenian authorities are interested in free and fair elections. The Minister stressed the importance of involving all political actors in the election process.