RA Constitutional Court only supranational body capable of resolving dispute arising from parliamentary elections

ArmInfo.The Constitutional Court of Armenia is the only supranational body capable of resolving the dispute arising from the parliamentary elections in Armenia on June 7. This was stated by lawyer Aram Vardevanyan, a representative of the "Strong Armenia" bloc, in a conversation with journalists before the latest session of the Constitutional Court.

At the same time, as the lawyer noted, even this fact does not rule  out the possibility of pressure being exerted on the court. Because,  as Vardevanyan noted, today in Armenia they are faced with the  problem of the independence of the judicial system. "We see such  serious problems. But, at the same time, I want to note that the  Constitutional Court is the only body above the government. That is,  it can be above any pressure or interference and, from a position of  authority, resolve the dispute arising from the parliamentary  elections in Armenia," the lawyer explained.

Because, according to Vardevanyan, it is undeniable that these  elections were held amid the abuse of administrative resources, the  spread of hate speech, and other violations. In this regard, he drew  attention to a number of interesting circumstances. In particular, he  reported that during the Constitutional Court hearing, they learned  that the Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), Vahagn  Hovakimyan, was informed of the events through a representative of  one of the polling stations where military personnel voted after the  polling station closed. "What's interesting here is that the person  in charge at the polling station was a representative of the Civil  Contract party. Moreover, in this case, even the CEC chairperson  himself cannot be impartial and independent, since he was not only a  member of this party, but one of its founders," noted the member of  the Strong Armenia bloc.

And although, as Vardevanyan noted, the court ruled during the  hearing that the elections were flawed, it was nevertheless stated  that these violations could not have influenced the outcome of the  electoral processes. "We stated that all these violations influenced  the outcome. And here I want to draw attention to another interesting  circumstance. Who fully shares the CEC's position? Of course, the  Civil Contract party," Vardevanyan noted.

The lawyer also reiterated that the opposition will present a final  decision on the mandates after they receive a clearer understanding  of the Constitutional Court of Armenia's position on the elections.  "This issue should be resolved after the Constitutional Court  presents its decision on the elections," Vardevanyan concluded.

As a reminder, on June 19, seven political forces filed applications  with the Constitutional Court of Armenia demanding that the results  of the parliamentary elections held on June 7 be declared invalid. On  June 21, the Constitutional Court decided to consolidate all cases  into one proceeding. The first hearing of the Constitutional Court of  Armenia began on June 26. The deadline for the court's decision is  July 4.