There were no specific issues related to Armenia on the agenda of the CE Parliamentary Assembly. On the other hand, many of them were discussed by the PACE Monitoring Committee. Representatives of the Armenian Opposition participated in this Committee’s work as well. They presented their approaches to various problems.
At his October 14 press conference in Yerevan, David Harutyunyan, Chairman of the Armenian delegation to PACE, reported he presented the reforms implemented in Armenia to the PACE Monitoring Committee. “Specifically, I pointed out that the draft amendments to the Armenian Election Code would be submitted to the Armenian Parliament only after being discussed with all the parliamentary forces. I also presented reforms in the police system, informed the Committee members of the situation pertaining to the mass events freedom. I pointed out that all the 15 applications had been considered, but only nine processions were held. As regards rallies, 13 applications had been submitted. In ten cases the Yerevan Municipality proposed alternative places for gatherings and rejected only one application,” Harutyunyan said. As regard the Yerevan Municipality’s “tradition” to offer “alternative” places for political rallies, Harutyunyan does not see anything blameworthy in the city authorities’ actions if they offer adequate place for mss actions. “Quite another matter is if the territory is not fit for mass actions,” Harutyunyan said.
He also informed the PACE Monitoring Committee of the process of licensing Armenian TV companies. He pointed out that competitions are normally followed by a common well-grounded decision on licensing particular companies.
As regard the Armenian delegation’s proposal to postpone the PACE Co-Rapporteurs’ visit to Armenia due to the CE forum on democracy scheduled for October 19, Harutyunyan said that the Monitoring Committee showed understanding. The new PACE rapporteur on Armenia is likely to be nominated after the new Swedish delegation is formed. The former co-rapporteur Goran Lindblad was not elected to the Swedish Parliament.
At their meeting, David Harutyunyan and PACE President Mevlut Cavusoglu discussed the issue of forming an interim committee on Nagorno-Karabakh. “Our position has not changed. We should not do again what has once failed. The previous sub-committee on Nagorno-Karabakh failed – the Azerbaijani delegation keeps on insisting on such a committee though,” Harutyunyan said. He noted the Armenian delegation does not object to maintaining contacts with its Azeri counterpart.
At their meeting with the members of the CE Ministers’ Committee, the Armenian delegation raised the issue of Azerbaijan’s military threats. The delegation member Ermine Nahdalyan pointed out that the Committee restated there is o alternative to a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Turkey is to take over the Ministers’ Committee chairmanship this November. In this context Armenian delegation members stated they have no intention to change their strategy at PACE.
The members of the Armenian delegation representing the Armenian Opposition – Zaruhi Postanjyan (Heritage Party) and Armen Rustamyan (ARF-D) - were not present at the press conference. David Harutyunyan explained they have already informed mass media of their opinions. Unlike the Heritage Party representative, the ARF representative has been keeping “mysterious” silence since he returned from Strasbourg.
