As part of Armenian delegation, Varuzhan Hoktanyan, Project Director of Transparency International Anticorruption Center was among  civil society groups that along with leading e-Governance experts, decision makers and donors met in Tallinn, Estonia on May 29-30, 2018 for annual Tallinn e-Governance Conference to discuss the challenges state faces when communicating with digital citizens and on May 30-31 for an Open Governance workshop to discuss e-democracy and e-participation in decision making and experiences and challenges that the OGP framework has accumulated. 

We, the below-signed organizations of civil society, welcome the victory of the People and value the awakening of civil self-awareness and dignity. We stand ready to support the newly-formed Government in overcoming the existing challenges and shall remain committed to the core principles and agenda of our work. We shall continue to focus on the most relevant and pressing issues, including among others human rights, the fight against corruption, the independence of the judiciary, and the development of a free and competitive economy.

In his interview to the Romanian Service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Haykak Arshamyan, Advocacy and Communications Coordinator of Transparency International Anticorruption Center reflected on the recent developments in Armenia. According to Arshamyan the Republican Party of Armenia, which is the majority in the parliament agreed on May 2, 2018 to support the candidate nominated by 1/3 of the National Assembly of Armenia to become the interim Prime Minister in a parliamentary vote scheduled for May 8, implying they agreed to vote for Nikol Pashinyan. The rallies and civil disobedience stopped in Armenia until May 8 parliament session.

As it is known, acting Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Karen Karapetyan has proposed to hold early parliamentary elections as a possible solution to the unprecedented political crisis. In order to ensure free, competitive and transparent elections in line with democratic standards, there is a need for legal arrangements to ensure democratic levers and free competition, executive authorities that will not abuse the administrative resource, a CEC staff that will organize the process in accordance with law, an NCTR staff that will ensure competitive broadcast, heads of criminal investigation and investigative bodies that will effectively fight against electoral violations, as well as independent courts that will solve electoral disputes in a fair way.