ArmInfo. Avetik Chalabyan, Coordinator of the Hayaqve initiative is accusing the Yerevan Municipality of attempts to torpedo a referendum on Artsakh.
At his press conference on June 26, Chalabyan said that despite the fact that on June 20 the CEC of the Republic of Armenia registered the Hayakve initiative, giving it a legally binding character, the current ruling regime once again decided to demonstrate its illegality, trying to undermine the fundamental right of the people to exercise their power through a referendum.
According to him, in particular, a number of heads of the administrative districts of Yerevan, "referring to the illegally acting mayor of Yerevan Levon Hovhannisyan, in their official letters last week refused to provide them with premises to organize the collection of signatures."
"Although this is an imperative requirement of the law" On a referendum "and their constitutional duty. In fact, on the one hand, dictator Aliyev seizes the basic rights of the people of Artsakh, and on the other hand, his civilized partner Pashinyan, through his proteges, seizes the legitimate, fundamental rights of the residents of Yerevan. Therefore, we are dealing with both external and internal hostile actions against the Armenian people," he said.
Chalabyan noted that the initiative group has already filed a crime statement with the Prosecutor General's Office against all those officials who are trying to encroach on the inalienable rights of the Armenian people.
In this vein, he recalled that Article 10 of the Law on Referendum stipulates that for this purpose, the collection of signatures is carried out on the territory of local governments, which are obliged to provide premises.
"By blatantly obstructing Hayaqve, this regime is making it an inevitable political process, showing its misgivings. The current authorities do not even want to wait until the bill is submitted to the National Assembly and put to a vote, because they clearly fear that the National Assembly may also be " for "voting on the bill," Chalabyan added, noting that they will continue to fight by all legal means.
In conclusion, he called on the representatives of the Yerevan Municipality to return to the field of legality, remove all illegal obstacles that restrict the fundamental rights of citizens, and ensure the uninterrupted process of "Hayaqve".
The Yerevan Municipality has already reacted to this statement by Chalabyan, calling it, in fact, groundless.
"During today's press conference, the coordinator of the Hayaqe initiative, Avetik Chalabyan, stated that "a number of heads of the administrative districts of Yerevan, referring to the Acting Mayor of Yerevan Levon Hovhannisyan, refused to provide areas for collecting signatures." In particular, we are talking about the administrative districts of the capital Avan, Nor Nork, Kentron, Nubarashen and Ajapnyak Yerevan Municipality states that Chalabyan's statement is a distortion of facts, since the representatives of the administrative districts did not refuse to provide space to the initiative, but, pointing to the separation of powers, suggested that they apply to the Yerevan Municipality with a request to obtain the appropriate permission. We are sure that Chalabyan mistakenly regarded this proposal as a refusal," the Yerevan City Hall noted.
In turn, political scientist, Azerbaijani scholar Anzhela Elibegova, reacting to what is happening around the initiative, noted that what is happening around the Hayaqve initiative is the dream of any dictator.
"The Central Electoral Commission adopts an application, deadlines for collecting signatures are set, the municipal authorities say well, but we will not provide premises, go as you like, use your civil rights. And it does not matter that they are obliged to ensure this by law. In essence, they say that the Constitution is for we are not the basis, as they say in the mayor's office of Yerevan, it will be so. Here it is a bastion of democracy. Here are the statements that the people are solving the Artsakh issue. Power belongs to the people," she summed up.
As ArmInfo previously reported, on June 20 the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of the Republic of Armenia approved the application of the "Aiakwe" initiative group to organize the collection of signatures of 50,000 signatures and submit a legislative initiative to the National Assembly. A 60-day period has been set for collecting signatures - from June 21 to August 19, 2023.
The initiative group filed a corresponding application with the Central Election Commission of Armenia on June 12, in which it came up with an initiative to change the legislation, which provided for severe punishment for refusing self-determination of Nagorno-Karabakh and belittling the significance of the Armenian Genocide.
After the CEC session, Aram Petrosyan, a representative of the Hayaqve initiative group, told reporters that most likely the collection of signatures will start in three days. "We will appeal to the heads of the communities, who within three days must provide us with territories for the collection of signatures," Petrosyan said, adding that this is the reason for the fact that he cannot name the exact date for the collection of signatures.
At the same time, Petrosyan noted that they plan to appoint permanent representatives of the initiative throughout Yerevan, as well as in Gyumri, Vanadzor and Kapan.