Armenia court hears opposition’s challenge to PM election win

YEREVAN: Armenia’s constitutional court on Friday began hearing the opposition’s challenge to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan party’s victory in last month’s snap parliamentary polls.
Despite Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party winning the June vote by a landslide in polls internationally praised as well run, opposition parties have alleged electoral irregularities.
An alliance of parties led by ex-president Robert Kocharyan asked the constitutional court to overturn the election results.
“Violations were widespread and distorted the election results,” Artsvik Minasyan, a leader of the opposition Dashnaktsutyun party from Kocharyan’s electoral alliance, said Friday ahead of the hearing.
“We hope that the constitutional court will take a law-based decision and grant our demand,” he added.
A ruling is expected by July 17.
Pashinyan called the early vote to diffuse a political crisis that engulfed Armenia following last year’s military defeat to Azerbaijan.
Six-weeks of fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in September and November 2020 claimed more than 6,500 lives. It also saw Yerevan cede to Baku — under a Russian-brokered cease-fire — swathes of territory it had controlled for decades.
Opposition parties have accused Pashinyan of mishandling the war and the truce terms were seen in Armenia as a national humiliation, leading to protracted street protests.
Analysts say Kocharyan may be hoping to contest the election results using his influence over the judiciary — largely under the control of former authorities when Pashinyan first came to power in 2018.
Throughout his first two years in office, Pashinyan struggled to get rid of politically-influenced judges who were blocking his anti-graft drive.
Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party secured nearly 54 percent of the votes, against 21 percent for Kocharyan’s Armenia alliance.

Armenia court hears opposition’s challenge to PM election win