The parliamentary faction of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) is searching for ways to "ramrod" the results of voting on ratification of the Armenian- Russian "gas agreement". RPA Faction Secretary Hovhannes Sahakyan has told media that the ballot committee of the Armenian National Assembly will present the relevant protocol later.
Sahakyan says that the ballot committee operates in case of e-voting. The committee has registered the voting. When asked how the voting can be considered valid if 4 out of the 7 members of the ballot committee took no part in the process, Sahakyan relied, "This will also have its answer".
During the Dec 23 extraordinary meeting, the Armenian Parliament ratified the Armenian-Russian agreement on the terms of the purchase-sale of ArmRusgasprom's shares and the company's further activities. 77 MPs voted pro, with no votes contra and no one abstained. The parliamentary opposition tried to boycott the voting. MP Zaruhi Postanjyan stole the registration cards of the Republican MPs but the speaker suggested that they could vote by raising their hands. When the opposition MPs began leaving the hall, he joked that there would be no "contra" votes. Four opposition parties, Armenian National Congress (ANC), Heritage, ARFD and Prosperous Armenia, will appeal to the Constitution Court against the results of the voting on the Armenian-Russian gas agreement. They claim that the voting was invalid because 4 out of the 7 members of the ballot committee were absent.