Legitimate elections to help obtain new grants from MCA-Armenia?

PanARMENIAN.Net - Director of Caucasus Institute, political analyst Alexander Iskandaryan said that after legitimate parliamentary elections in 2012 Armenia will have the opportunity to submit new bids for grants of the Millennium Challenge Corporation.

Commenting on U.S. Ambassador Marie L. Yovanovitch’s statement that MCC suspends the program on rural roads rehabilitation, Iskandaryan told a press conference on April 18 that “her words are nothing new, while the suspension of financing was known back in 2009,” as according to Yovanovitch the March 2008 events were assessed by international structures as lack of sufficient level of democracy in the country.

Political analyst Anush Sedrakyan noted for her part that with its decision MCC sends a message to Armenia that it falls out of the common integration network of countries with equal opportunities.

“It is not a message for better organization of elections, but a common vector of the state’s strategy that cannot be changed through reforms,” Sedrakyan said.

She added that legitimacy of elections is not a top priority for MCC, since there are other components like efficiency of public administration, struggle against corruption, etc.