"Wings of Unity": Declaration of all expenses by Pashinyan`s party  would have led to revocation of their candidate list

ArmInfo. If the ruling Civil Contract party of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had declared all of its election campaign expenses, it would have  triggered the application of Article 27 of the Electoral Code, which  mandate the revocation  of a political party's electoral list.  Liparit Drmeyan, a representative of the "Wings of Unity" party, made  this statement on July 1 in his closing remarks at the Constitutional  Court of Armenia.  The Court is currently reviewing petitions from  opposition political forces seeking to annul the results of the  parliamentary elections held on June 7.

According to him, the past five sessions of the Constitutional Court  were unprecedented not only in the number of applicants but also in  the volume of evidence presented. "The crux of the matter is that the  presented facts confirm that these elections were neither free nor  equal, and that the will of citizens was unlawfully influenced,"  Drmeyan stated.

In this regard, he recalled that a formal complaint was submitted to  the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Armenia on June 14,  asserting that the Civil Contract party had provided false  information regarding its campaign fund. Drmeyan noted that this  issue was subsequently raised before the Constitutional Court as  well. As further evidence of a clear violation of the principle of  equality, Drmeyan cited the absence of reported data regarding rental  costs for the ruling party's offices during the pre-election period,  as well as the lack of documentation regarding staff registration and  salary payments across their 588 offices.

 "Even by the most conservative estimates, if at least one  coordinator had worked at each Civil Contract party office, the party  should have declared at least 58 million 808 thousand drams in  expenses just for employee salaries. In other words, if the party had  declared all its expenses, it would have exceeded the legally  established maximum threshold, which would have triggered the  application of Article 27 of the Electoral Code, requiring the  revocation of the party's candidate list," Drmeyan emphasized.

However, as the party representative noted, the Central Election  Commission of Armenia either simply failed to record this violation  or lacked sufficient capacity to detect it. Drmeyan then recalled the  blue cars of the Civil Contract party with orange hearts. The  politician noted that for several days, they were even parked in  front of the Constitutional Court of Armenia. According to him, all  of these vehicles were equipped in violation of Armenian Government  Resolution No. 2137 of 2005, which entails administrative liability.  "Such vehicles should not have been in use. However, they were driven  throughout Armenia throughout the election campaign, and in some  cases, even accompanied by patrol cars. In this regard, on May 13, an  inquiry was sent to the police of the Armenian Ministry of Internal  Affairs asking whether the owners and drivers of these vehicles had  been held accountable. However, it was only on July 5, the  penultimate day of the election campaign, that the police responded  that this information was considered personal data and could not be  provided," the "Wings of Unity" party representative reported.

Meanwhile, Drmeyan highlighted that administrative protocols were  filed against drivers associated with his own political force for  allegedly operating vehicles with campaign posters. He explained that  his party was forced to appeal these decisions, and the proceedings  were subsequently dropped because the protocols were found to be  unsubstantiated. Consequently, he questioned why different political  forces are subject to disparate treatment. In this regard, the party  representative questioned why different approaches are being taken  toward different political forces. "Why are the police lenient toward  the ruling party's violations, while disproportionately fining  opposition members? I would also like to draw attention to Prime  Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statement that 70% of voters supported the  opposition under the influence of electoral bribes. In this regard, I  would like to remind you that the International Court of Justice and  the European Court of Human Rights have long established case law  according to which the political rhetoric of high- ranking officials  is also subject to legal review. Based on the Armenian prime  minister's words, it appears that the state did not have sufficient  resources and mechanisms to ensure a level playing field during the  elections," Drmeyan noted.

He specifically cited instances of hate speech during the election  campaign. Specifically, the politician recalled Pashinyan's statement  that "if the Civil Contract party does not secure a constitutional  majority, the country will face a catastrophic war in September." The  party representative expressed his conviction that this statement was  nothing more than a threat. "It was a direct threat voiced by the  prime minister, who is also the leader of a political force. Voters  perceive it as follows: if they don't vote for the Civil Contract,  there will be war in September." "In such cases, the key factor isn't  who the statement is addressed to—a political party, a group, or a  specific individual—but how it's perceived by the citizen with the  right to vote," noted the Wings of Unity representative.

It was precisely in this atmosphere, according to Drmeyan, that  political forces waged their election campaign. The Constitutional  Court of Armenia, as well as the Central Election Commission before  it, must assess whether all of the aforementioned violations could  have influenced the vote results. "All the evidence we've presented  indicates that they could have. The Constitutional Court's decision  in this regard will be decisive for Armenia's further democratic  development: it will either put an end to existing doubts or further  deepen the polarization of society." "Make your choice for the sake  of the Republic of Armenia," Drmeyan concluded.

Recall, on June 19, seven political forces filed petitions 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 a  single proceeding. The first hearing of the Constitutional Court of  Armenia began on June 26. The deadline for the court's decision is  July 4.