Rights defenders reproach Armenian authorities for unwillingness to reform Electoral Code

The Armenian authorities have deliberately protracted the reform of the Electoral Code, since after its updating the influence of the administrative, financial and criminal resources on the election outcomes will be limited, the human rights defenders interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 18, the Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, announced that parliamentary elections would take place on June 20 this year. An agreement on this was reached after consultations with members of parliamentary parties, he said.

On March 19, the Yerevan "Media Centre" Club of Public Journalism held an interactive discussion on the topic "Extraordinary elections: without a new Electoral Code?", the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has reported.

The amendments to the Electoral Code will contribute to parties' political struggle and restrict the influence of administrative, financial and criminal resources on election outcomes, Daniel Ionesyan, the programme coordinator of the NGO "Union of Informed Citizens", said during the discussion.

He criticized the ruling force for its unwillingness to adopt the new Electoral Code. "All the reservations of the ruling force are a bluff. The authorities have no political will and desire to change the Code, which does not correspond to its interests of retaining the power," the expert has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 20, 2021 at 07:42 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.