Armenia Bloc: PACE in its report on the parliamentary elections clearly indicated the use of selective political persecution by the Armenian authorities

ArmInfo. In its report on the parliamentary elections, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe clearly pointed to the use of selective political persecution by the Armenian authorities. This was stated by Levon Kocharyan, a member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia from the opposition Armenia faction, at a press conference on October 5.

According to him, the PACE report contains numerous references to the violations raised by the opposition. The PACE recommendations explicitly state the need to end this practice. The problem associated with the Prosperous Armenia Party was also clearly presented. PACE particularly expressed bewilderment at the justifications of the Central Electoral Commission, which refused to hold by-elections in three polling stations. "We also heard about the authorities' use of administrative resources and social bribery during the pre-election period, especially when it came to increasing pensions, introducing a mandatory health insurance system, issues related to driver's licenses, etc.," the opposition leader noted.

Levon Kocharyan also pointed to the part of the report that points to pressure exerted on citizens, who were ultimately forced to vote for the ruling party. Public Television of Armenia also played a role in this active government activity.

As a reminder, according to the PACE report, pressure was exerted on public sector employees during the election campaign to participate in Civil Contract party events. A series of social and economic measures announced by the government before the elections raised concerns about a level playing field for the campaign.

From an electoral law perspective, these measures may not have formally violated the law, but observers perceived them as steps that carried the risk of being used as a campaign tool. More than 200 criminal cases were recorded, almost entirely involving opposition figures. The PACE delegation expressed concern about the potential selective use of criminal prosecutions and called for due process guarantees for opposition members. Armenia's media environment was deemed extremely polarized: the public broadcaster and several television stations demonstrated bias in their coverage.

Violent violations of various kinds were recorded at almost 44 percent of polling stations, including procedural issues, violations of the secrecy of the ballot, cases of voter pressure, restrictions on campaigning, and other violations. The Central Election Commission's justification that invalidating the results at three polling stations "did not affect the overall outcome" was deemed unconvincing. The report notes that, according to some calculations, if turnout data from the disputed stations had been included, the Prosperous Armenia Party could have overcome the 4% threshold, gained mandates, and influenced the structure of the parliamentary majority. However, a rerun of the vote was not held without sufficient explanation.

Serious shortcomings in the area of effective and timely judicial protection were identified. In the case of the dispute over the results at three polling stations, the report finds that the courts failed to restore the status quo, and the legal process did not provide an effective resolution before the new parliament began its work. The presence of an atmosphere of fear in the pre-election environment was emphasized.

However, the recording of the above-mentioned problems did not prevent PACE from deeming the final election results acceptable.