Provocative speeches registered ahead of December 9 early parliamentary elections: OSCE/ODIHR published mid-term report

The OSCE/ODIHR, implementing observation mission in Armenia, has published mid-term report regarding the early parliamentary elections set for December 9.

The European observers described in details the political situation before the elections, the legal regulations of electoral process in Armenia and registered that the initial lists present 2,577,112 voters.

The report said that during the meetings party representatives have voiced concerns about possible use of state resources, vote buying and pressures on voters especially in rural territories. The majority of the interlocutors expressed concern over continuous spread of disinformation, provocative speeches especially in social websites.

As to the media field, the European observers, citing their interlocutors, noticed that many private mass media including leading TV channels are being financed by businessmen close to different political groups and are being perceived as closely interconnected with the political force.

According to the same report, the Public TV which is being financed by the state budget, continues to be perceived as pro-governmental mass media.