OSCE PA’s Sanchez Amor and Bekkevold to lead election observers in Armenia

COPENHAGEN, 24 March 2017 – OSCE parliamentarians will observe the upcoming parliamentary elections in Armenia and provide leadership for the OSCE’s short-term observer mission.

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Sebastian Kurz has appointed Ignacio Sanchez Amor (MP, Spain) as Special Co-ordinator to lead the expected 250 short-term OSCE observers for the 2 April vote. Geir Jorgen Bekkevold (MP, Norway) will serve as Head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly delegation, which will include some 55 members of parliament from 23 countries.

“My fellow observers and I are following the electoral process in Armenia in great detail. These elections will be the first conducted under Armenia’s revised Constitution, marking a significant transition from a semi-presidential to a parliamentary republic. I look forward to observing how these important elections play out,” Special Co-ordinator Sanchez Amor said.

Sanchez Amor serves as Chair of the OSCE PA’s General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions and as Head of the Spanish Delegation to the OSCE PA. Since 2012, he has also been the OSCE PA’s Special Representative on OSCE Border Issues. He will be in Yerevan next week for a series of meetings starting on 29 March prior to the elections.

Geir Jorgen Bekkevold, who will lead the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly delegation of observers, is Head of the Norwegian Delegation to the OSCE PA and serves on the PA’s Ad Hoc Committee on Migration.

“These elections not only represent a change in the constitutional system of Armenia, but will also include new voting registration and election day procedures being put into practice for the first time. As observers, we will pay close attention to the implementation of these new election administration measures,” Bekkevold said.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly previously observed elections in Armenia in 1995, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2012, and 2013. For the 2 April 2017 elections, the PA will be working closely with the mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, as well as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.

The findings of the observers, who are assessing the elections based on criteria in the OSCE’s 1990 Copenhagen Document, will be delivered at a press conference in Yerevan on 3 April.