OSCE/ODIHR notes ‘highly confrontational’ campaign in initial report

In their preliminary statement, the OSCE/ODIHR observation mission said that the elections yesterday offered voters a ‘genuine choice among political alternatives in a well-run process’.

They noted, however, that the voting took place amidst ‘direct pressure from abroad, in the form of escalating trade restrictions and security threats’. This was a likely reference to economic pressure by Russia, which in recent months ramped up its restrictions on Armenian exports.

The mission noted that the campaign was ‘highly confrontational’ and was ‘marked by allegations of vote-buying and other electoral violations’ that led to criminal prosecution, ‘resulting in many opposition supporters refraining from actively engaging in the campaign’. It also noted that there was pressure on public sector employees to attend ruling party events.

You can read the rest of the summary here.