YEREVAN -- Armenia has said it will not invite the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to monitor next month's mayoral election in Yerevan, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports.
Last year's disputed presidential election triggered a protest in the capital that ended with 10 deaths and hundreds of injuries, and the country's main opposition group, the Armenian National Congress (HAK), has promised that the mayoral election will be a "second round" of that election.
The OSCE, together with its Warsaw-based Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, has monitored nearly every presidential and parliamentary election held in Armenia since the country gained independence.
Although it doesn't often monitor local elections, the OSCE did monitor local votes in Albania and Moldova in 2007.
Additionally, an estimated one-third of Armenians will vote in the Yerevan municipal elections.
Last year's disputed presidential election triggered a protest in the capital that ended with 10 deaths and hundreds of injuries, and the country's main opposition group, the Armenian National Congress (HAK), has promised that the mayoral election will be a "second round" of that election.
The OSCE, together with its Warsaw-based Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, has monitored nearly every presidential and parliamentary election held in Armenia since the country gained independence.
Although it doesn't often monitor local elections, the OSCE did monitor local votes in Albania and Moldova in 2007.
Additionally, an estimated one-third of Armenians will vote in the Yerevan municipal elections.