Text of report by Armenian news agency Noyan Tapan on 3rd June
Yerevan, 2nd June: "The parliamentary elections in Armenia
cannot be described as fully valid. We think they do not meet
the standards we expected," an observer from British Helsinki
Human Rights Group, Chad Nagel, told Noyan Tapan news agency.
Nagel said that the muddle over the electoral rolls which
led to 10-35 per cent of voters being deprived of the vote
caused particular concern to the Group. He also said that local
observers said the results of the elections could not be
considered adequate, as there had been many errors on the
electoral rolls.

Commenting on the preliminary conclusions made by the OSCE
and Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe [PACE]
observers, Nagel said "the observers have given extremely vague
opinions on the elections in Armenia". Nagel said that probably
both organizations had decided to wait so as to correct their
evaluations of the parliamentary elections in Armenia.
"Although the 30th May elections were better than the 1995
[parliamentary] elections and presidential elections in 1996,
they were still not conducted properly, and we do not agree
with the opinion of the OSCE and PACE that these elections were
a step ahead, " Nagel said.

Nagel found it difficult to say whether the parliamentary
elections would have a negative impact on Armenia's application
to join the Council of Europe, and said the Council of Europe
was a completely independent organization and was guided by its
own criteria. He doubted that it would have a negative impact,
as "for instance, Georgia has joined the Council of Europe,
although we do not think that the elections there were any
better than in Armenia".

[For OSCE and Council of Europe views, see Snark news
agency (Yerevan, in Russian 1640 gmt 31 May 99) - "Elections
confirm Armenia's commitment to democracy, observers say"]

Source: Noyan Tapan news agency, Yerevan, in Russian 1240 gmt
03 Jun 99
BBC Mon TCU 030699 mm/vz