Former minister outlines possible political scenarios

PanARMENIAN.Net - If all parliamentary candidates from the two opposition forces that entered parliament submit withdrawal applications, Armenia’s Electoral Code does not provide a mechanism for transferring their mandates to other political forces, former Justice Minister Arpine Hovhannisyan said on the SeriousCast program.

In her assessment, if all 412 candidates file withdrawal requests, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan could face two options: either transfer the mandates to other parties that received fewer votes by seeking an appropriate Constitutional Court ruling or by passing new legislation in parliament, or hold snap elections, Sputnik Armenia reports.

Hovhannisyan said she considers the first scenario unlikely.

“Pashinyan will not cross a red line against himself. He will not undermine the image of legitimacy that he has created for himself,” Hovhannisyan said, stressing that such a move would severely delegitimize him.

According to her, even from a technical standpoint, redistributing mandates would be extremely difficult. In that context, she raised a rhetorical question: for example, how many mandates could a political force that received 33,000 votes obtain?

“It would be such a colossal embarrassment and such a delegitimizing action that it is more likely they will somehow manage to continue with the parliament and then move toward snap elections,” Hovhannisyan said.

In her view, under such circumstances, early parliamentary elections could be held within a year or even sooner.

Final results of the June 7 parliamentary elections were published on June 14. Civil Contract received 726,819 votes, or 49.7456 percent; Strong Armenia received 340,006 votes, or 23.2710 percent; and the Hayastan Alliance received 144,983 votes, or 9.9231 percent. The Prosperous Armenia Party failed to clear the 4 percent electoral threshold and will not enter parliament, having secured 58,287 votes, or 3.9893 percent.

Civil Contract will hold 64 mandates, including three allocated to representatives of national minorities. Strong Armenia will have 29 mandates, including one held by an Assyrian representative, while the Hayastan Alliance will receive 12 mandates.