Saakashvili’s solemn promise 2

Georgian President  Mikheil Saakashvili has repeated his committment to hold free, fair and transparent parliamentary elections in the Autumn. Addressing a meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Economic Forum in the Georgian Black Sea Port of Batumi, Saakashvili described the committment as important for the country’s future security.

“We would like a large number of international observers, including from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to come before the elections,” Saakashvili said. “We want to get their advice before the elections. The advice will enable us to improve the pre-election sphere to conduct the most transparent elections.” The Georgian President said “we are ready to cooperate with international institutions and will do everything to hold just elections for no one to have any questions.”

The Georgian President also said that Russia had decided to conduct large military exercises in the Caucasus region close to the Georgian elections . The President said that for these reasons the elections are very important, “on the one hand, for Georgian credentials, but they also have a huge security dimension.”

source: CEW

Armenian National Congress (ANC) asks Constitutional Court to annul elections

The opposition Armenian National Congress, an alliance of opposition political parties and groups headed by former Armenian President Levon ter-Petrossyan, has petitioned the Armenian Constitutional court asking that the results of the 6 May elections according to the proportional system be annulled because of election irregularities. Earlier several ANC candidates had also addressed the court with similar appeals for cancelling the results of the elections in a number of single seat majoritarian elections. The President of the Constitutional Court has asked judges to review the cases, according to a court spokesperson.

source: CEW

Four candidates to contest presidential elections in self declared NKR

Iconic Armenian monument in Nagorno-Karabakh

Four candidates have submitted their nomination for the office of President in the self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic where elections are scheduled for 19 July 2012.

Apart from the incumbent President, Bako  S. Sahakyan , the other three candidates are Vitaly M. Balasanyan, a member  of the National Assembly of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic;  Arkady I. Soghomonyan, Deputy Dean of the Stepanakert Branch of the Armenian State Agrarian University and Valery S. Khachatryan, currently unemployed.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a territory that has declared itself  independent but is generally recognised in the international community as being part of Azerbaijan. The territory is now mainly populated by Armenians. The Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh was displaced by the conflict in the period 1989-94 and will not be voting in the elections. The Azerbaijani Government has condemned the holding of the elections.

source: CEW