YEREVAN.- The mission of the International Expert Center for Electoral Systems (ICES) summed up the first  week of their stay in Armenia.

The statement issued by ICES said a group of long-term observers held a working meeting with the leadership of Central Electoral Commission and started a series of meetings with the candidates.

Key meetings with candidates, as well as leaders of state agencies responsible for the electoral process will be continued next week.

The monitoring of the Armenian media revealed that vast number of publications mentioned the name of the opposition presidential candidates last week. The major attention of the media was focused on the attack on Paruyr Hayrikyan. In this regard, the mission welcomed the balanced media coverage of this incident, as well as Mr. Hayrikyan’s responsible stance. He decided not to postpone the vote.

A large number of publications have been related to the health condition of presidential candidate Andreas Ghukasyan, who continues his hunger strike,  the statement of the presidential candidate Aram Harutyunyan, who declared a one-day hunger strike and withdrawal of his candidacy, as well as the protests of the other candidate Arman Melikyan.

In general ICES mission welcomed openness and unbiased position of the most media outlets.

“Armenian media show no discrimination and outright prejudice against presidential candidates. Despite their large number, the media continue to keep an eye on all the presidential candidates,” the statement said.