Kocharyan's bloc still weighing whether to accept mandates

PanARMENIAN.Net - Leader of Hayastan (Armenia) bloc, second President Robert Kocharyan has said his team has yet to decide whether to accept parliamentary mandates they secured by gaining more than 20% of ballots in the parliamentary elections on June 20.

Caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party won 53.92% of the vote, while Hayastan bloc secured 21.4% of the ballots. "I Have Honor" bloc too will get seats in the parliament.

“We haven't made a final decision in the bloc yet. But personally I think that we have received a very serious opportunity to continue our struggle. The parliamentary struggle will strengthen, and not replace, our street effort,” Kocharyan told a press conference on Tuesday, June 22.

The former President also weighed in on his own plans, maintaining that he doesn't see himself in the parliament, though "a final decision has not been made yet."

At the same time, he described the election results as strange and unexpected: "There were massive violations and the use of administrative resources, and we will file a complaint with the Constitutional Court after processing all the information."

According to Kocharyan, the political struggle in the country should take place within legal frameworks. “We did not take people out into the streets immediately after the elections. We believe that this whole process should proceed in a legal manner," he added.