Arpine Hovhannisyan: “There is a price to pay for any consensus”

On 20 September, Acting Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Arpine Hovhannisyan presented the latest developments related to the electoral process in Armenia at the event entitled “The Developments Following Electoral Assessment and Recommendations” launched in Warsaw.

In particular, Arpine Hovhannisyan touched upon the processes that followed the constitutional referendum in 2015, that is, the discussions on the new Electoral Code of the Republic of Armenia in different formats, the agreements reached as a result of the discussions, etc.

“Like any consensus, there was a price to pay for this consensus as well. In our case, it was the lack of consideration for one of the main guarantees of our key international partner — the Venice Commission, relating to the publication of signed lists. We decided to publish them because our major goal to establish mutual confidence and hold unprecedented proper elections has guided us throughout the entire process,” the Acting Minister of Justice said and expressed gratitude to the OSCE/ODIHR and its experienced staff for supporting their Armenian partners with diligence and a heartfelt attitude.

Within the scope of the visit to Poland, Arpine Hovhannisyan today also had meetings with Director of the OSCE/ODIHR Michael Georg Link and Head of the Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany to the OSCE Pohl Eberhard and presented the latest developments related to the electoral process in Armenia.