Iryna Sabashuk and Tina Schoen leave the CEC in Yerevan following a meeting with the Head of the External Relations Department.YEREVAN, 31 January 2013 – OSCE PA Deputy Secretary General Tina Schoen and Operations Officer Iryna Sabashuk visited Yerevan on 29-30 January, in preparation for the upcoming OSCE PA election observation mission to the 18 February presidential election in Armenia. 

Schoen and Sabashuk met with the Secretary General and the Head of the International Relations Department of the Armenian National Assembly, and Anahit Gasparyan, Secretary of the Armenian Delegation to the OSCE PA. They also visited the Central Election Commission, where they met with the Head of the External Relations Department to discuss the CEC’s preparatory work, as well as the accreditation procedures for international observers. 

“We will come back before the elections when we have full briefings with all the presidential candidates and the Central Election Commission and then we will assess the elections based on what we have seen on the Election Day and on what we have heard,” Schoen said.

The Head and Deputy Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan briefed the PA’s delegation on the office’s overall work and the situation in the country, while other staff members spoke in more detail on issues related to the office’s work on democratization and good governance in Armenia. In addition, Schoen met with several representatives of civil society and experts on the Armenian election processes. 

The team made contacts and prepared necessary arrangements for setting up the joint parliamentary briefing programme on 16-17 February for Members of Parliament from the OSCE PA, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and the European Parliament who will be observing the elections. 

Interlocutors described the administrative preparations for the elections as being well under way within legal deadlines and the political campaign, which formally started on 21 January, as fairly low key at this stage of the electoral process. Eight candidates are registered to run, many of whom are self-nominated. Several of the larger political parties have decided not to participate in these elections.

In preparation for practical and logistical aspects of the mission, which will include parliamentary observers from 16 countries, Sabashuk met with local service providers and interviewed potential local assistants. Schoen and Sabashuk also met with consultants from the OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission to discuss the co-ordination of deployment, logistics and the briefing programme.

The mission will be led by Vice-President Tonino Picula (Croatia) and will include several other Bureau members.

The OSCE PA has observed seven elections in Armenia since the country’s independence.  Deputy Secretary General Schoen has been in charge of all PA observation missions to Armenia for the past 13 years.