Armenia's human rights defender dispatches staff members to regions to monitor snap elections to parliament

YEREVAN, June 20. /ARKA/. The employees of the Office of Armenia's human rights defender have been watching the early elections to Armenia's National Assembly since early Sunday morning after more than 2000 poling stations opened across the country for nearly 2.6 million eligible voters.

The Office has also launched hot lines for reporting electoral violations. It has also set up a working group to monitor the voting process both from its capital-based division and in four border regions- Shirak, Gegharkunik, Syunik and Tavush.

The hotline numbers are:

in Syunik 055-116-615

in Gegharkunik 043-991-189 ․

in Shirak 043-512-116 ․

in Tavush 0263-40-116

The Office has also dispatched its representatives to Syunik and Vayots Dzor to study complaints about violations of electoral rights and address them on the ground. To contact them, one should call 043-513-116. Particular attention is paid to issues related to the work of journalists and observers.

For complaints or signals related to electoral rights, voters can contact the Office by calling 116 or (096) 116 100.

The snap parliamentary elections were called by Nikol Pashinyan to resolve public anger over the peace agreement he signed in November last year with presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan to end the hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone as a result of which Azerbaijan gained control over part of Nagorno-Karabakh itself and the surrounding seven districts held by Armenian troops for more than a quarter of a century.

The polls are being watched by several international organizations, including the CIS Inter-parliamentary Assembly, the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE / ODIHR), and the International Organization of Francophonie. -0-