Prosperous Armenia condemns invalidated precinct results

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Prosperous Armenia Party has stated that the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) invalidated the results of precisely those polling stations where the party received a large number of votes. The claim was made in a statement by party spokesperson Iveta Tonoyan.

“What took place at the Central Electoral Commission a short while ago is nothing less than a classic disgrace. This shameful decision, secretly adopted in the middle of the night under the cover of darkness, was a direct blow against Prosperous Armenia, aimed at preventing the party from entering the National Assembly by any means possible.

It is obvious that the results invalidated were specifically from polling stations where the Prosperous Armenia Party received a large number of votes. This is the clearest manifestation of the theft of voters’ ballots and once again proves that the ongoing process has nothing to do with the idea of fair and transparent elections, while casting doubt on the legality of the entire electoral process. The adopted decision grossly violates citizens’ constitutional right to freely express their will,” the statement said.

Tonoyan added that the party would fight this allegedly unlawful process through all available legal means.

“We will appeal this illegal decision as early as tomorrow and use the full range of legal instruments to prevent and stop such arbitrariness,” the statement noted.

Tonoyan also called on concerned citizens and the party supporters to gather near the CEC building at 13:00 to “raise their justified voice of protest against the injustice and permissiveness taking place.”

“Our citizens are being deprived of their right to freely express their will, and this theft of votes must not go unanswered,” she wrote.

Narek Karapetyan, who headed the election list of the Strong Armenia party, stated that “if the CEC and Civil Contract do not schedule a repeat vote in those two polling stations, they will cross all red lines.”

“The CEC selected two polling stations where Prosperous Armenia had its highest vote totals and annulled the results there,” Karapetyan said, according to Sputnik Armenia.

Commenting on the decision to invalidate the election results at the two polling stations, Armenia Alliance MP Ishkhan Saghatelyan said that “the CEC has carried out a new level of hooliganism.”

“When Nikol said, ‘I would cut off my hand before touching the people’s vote,’ now he should remove every limb he has,” Saghatelyan remarked.

The leader of Wings of Unity, Arman Tatoyan, also wrote that Civil Contract is engaged in stealing citizens’ votes and Prosperous Armenia mandates.

“The purpose of invalidating the election results at polling stations 35/65 and 10/51 is precisely that. The goal of the unlawful pressure exerted against the leader of Prosperous Armenia during this period was also exactly this — to secure the number of MPs needed for appointments and dismissals to constitutional offices and to obtain the ability to adopt constitutional laws,” he stated.

Late on June 11, the CEC decided to invalidate the voting results at polling stations No. 10/51 and No. 35/65. As a result, Prosperous Armenia lost a total of 213 votes, further reducing its chances of surpassing the 4 percent threshold required to enter parliament.