Alaverdyan: presidential election in Armenia cannot be regarded as free and fair

Certain provisions of the Electoral Code of Armenia are contradictory to the constitutional rights of the citizens of the country. This was stated on January 31 by Larissa Alaverdyan, Deputy from the "Heritage" parliamentary fraction and the first Ombudsman of Armenia.

"The forthcoming presidential election in Armenia cannot be characterized as free and fair," she has asserted and motivated her declaration by the fact that "no equal conditions for voting have been set up for citizens."

According to her opinion, one of the roughest violations is the absence of the point "Against all" in the ballot papers. "It was the only opportunity for the voters to show their aversion of the whole political system and nonacceptance of all candidates; they are now deprived of this opportunity," the IA "News-Georgia" quotes Ms Alaverdyan as saying.

In her opinion as a Deputy, another violation is that the citizens who live away from Armenia will not be able to vote. "These people are quite in plenty and depriving them of their suffrage is a rough violation of their constitutional rights," Larissa Alaverdyan has emphasized.