The Strong Armenia party filed an application to invalidate the results of the Stepanavan municipal elections, held under a proportional representation system. Constitutional law expert Gohar Meloyan, a representative of the opposition party, announced this on her Facebook page.
She said the application had been rejected, but the party would present all its supporting arguments to an international partner.
“In our application, we provided substantiated arguments addressing:
- A premeditated scheme to mislead voters and fraudulently obtain votes by deliberately circumventing provisions of the Electoral Code.
- Interference by law enforcement agencies in election campaigning and their involvement in campaigning against opposition forces.
- Systematic misuse of administrative resources.
- Obstruction of election campaigning through restrictions on freedom of assembly.
- Cases involving material incentives offered to voters.
- Hundreds of technical and substantive violations.
The Civil Contract party resorted to new technological tactics designed to circumvent electoral regulations and principles, misleading voters and fraudulently obtaining their votes. Five political forces participated, one of which withdrew, while three of the remaining four passed the minimum electoral threshold. Fully aware that it would not receive enough votes, Civil Contract misleadingly presented another of its candidates under the Gortsarar (Business) Party banner. The results demonstrated that Stepanavan residents did not give Civil Contract their vote of confidence,” Meloyan stated.
She added that, according to her information, Civil Contract intends to operate in the municipal council as a faction bearing its own party name rather than that of the Gortsarar Party, which she said contradicts several provisions of the Electoral Code and the Constitution.
In the October 25 local government elections in Stepanavan, the Business Party, led by Armen Grigoryan, emerged victorious, securing nine seats. Civil Contract won eight seats, while Strong Armenia obtained four.
On October 21, reports emerged of searches conducted at the Strong Armenia party’s office in Stepanavan, resulting in the arrest of 14 people, including Arsen Gevorgyan, a candidate for mayor of Stepanavan.
