The mission of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe calls for a strong commitment of political parties to local democracy in Armenia.

"Our satisfaction with the fact that these elections take place according to international standards is mitigated by the lack of engagement of political parties with local governance," said Henry FERAL (France, EPP), head of the delegation for the observation of local government elections in Armenia.

Following the observation of part of local elections conducted on 9 and 23 September 2012 * the Congress noted with satisfaction that the voting took place in a serious and calm atmosphere and the level of participation was satisfactory. No observer detected any obvious fraud though the issue of possible vote buying was raised by many stakeholders.

However, the delegation noted the lack of commitment of political parties with regret. While recognizing that this is due to various reasons, such as lack of financial resources, staff and candidates, it believes that political parties do not pay enough attention to democracy and governance at the local level.

Moreover, while acknowledging the existence of initiative from citizens who have participated in the electoral process, the Congress calls for greater involvement of all of civil society.

The Congress was the only international observer to follow part of the local elections. The mission took place from September 6 to 10 and 19 to 25 September 2012. The Congress delegation comprising of 14 members plus four members of the Committee of the Regions of the European Union, met with representatives of the Government, members of Parliament, representatives of political parties, members of the diplomatic corps, representatives of the international community as well as representatives of the media and NGOs.

* On September 9, 2012 the Congress mission worked in the marzes of Armavir, Ararat, Lori, Shiraz; on September 23, 2012 they worked in the marzes of Gegharquniq, Aragatsotn, Kotayq, Tavush, Vayots Dzor.