The Ministry of Internal Affairs, and in particular the police, have formed headquarters, task forces, and proper public order and discipline have been ensured in all polling stations. We have recorded fair, free, and transparent elections on the seventh of the month. Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Armen Mkrtchyan told this to reporters Tuesday in the National Assembly (parliament), regarding the parliamentary elections that were held Sunday in Armenia.

“Of course, monitoring was also carried out, from the point of view of detecting offenses, we recorded a number of cases, some of which are under checking, and the possible cases of beatings, hooliganism (...) have been recorded, and reports have been submitted to the investigative body. I would not give such qualifications at this time that they are political or are not political, but cases related to the election were recorded in all polling stations. Some have been sent to the Investigative Committee, which we have announced every three hours, and some are being checked, which will either be denied or will also be submitted to the investigative body.

I cannot note at this time how many cases have been initiated, [but] I can note that about 100 cases have been submitted by us to the Investigative Committee. It is possible that the Investigative Committee has also received reports from other sources, and you can clearly specify the number of proceedings already initiated from the Investigative Committee,” said the deputy minister of internal affairs of Armenia.

Referring to the accusations made by the opposition that when violations and attacks on people by supporters of the incumbent authorities occur, the police do not respond with the same promptness, Deputy Minister Mkrtchyan said: “First of all, I think that the electoral processes [in Armenia] were extremely transparent both in terms of monitoring the electoral processes and possible violations. I may not remember all the cases now, but according to the results of the monitoring, I myself remember at least some of the ones you noted, which were recorded and submitted to the Investigative Committee and, accordingly, there will be an investigation.”

Mkrtchyan considered it possible that there were shortcomings related to the electoral lists, but added that they were not significant.

“They were clarified, and clarifications were given on election day. The Migration and Citizenship Service [of the Ministry of Internal Affairs] also worked promptly. Moreover, if there are still questions to be clarified and being clarified, they can be given to the relevant bodies in a fairly transparent process, get answers,” noted the deputy minister of internal affairs of Armenia.