Ruling Bloc Criminalizes ‘Election Campaign Obstruction’
Ապրիլ 28, 2021
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One week after angry protests marred Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s visit to Syunik province, the Armenian parliament voted on Wednesday to criminalize obstruction of election campaigns.
The measure is part of a package of legal amendments which the pro-government majority in the National Assembly says will help to prevent serious irregularities in the run-up to and during snap parliamentary elections expected in June.
The amendments call for heavier fines and lengthier prison sentences for vote buying, election-related violence and disruption of the electoral process. They also introduce criminal liability for attempts to impede pre-election activities of political parties or their individual candidates.
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Former President Levon Ter-Petrosian has accused the Armenian authorities of planning to hold snap parliamentary elections in violation of the country’s constitution.
The constitution stipulates that such elections can be held only if Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian resigns and the Armenian parliament twice fails to elect another head of the government.
Pashinian resigned for that purpose on Sunday. He made clear that he will continue to perform his duties at least until election day.
Some opposition figures and lawyers critical of the government maintain that the constitution does not allow Pashinian to remain in office after his resignation. Ter-Petrosian effectively echoed their view in a statement released on Monday.
Turkey‘s state-owned TRT World reported that Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Ankara “entirely rejects” Mr. Biden‘s recognition of the 1915 Armenian events as genocide.
The rejection came hours after Mr. Biden made global headlines Saturday by issuing a statement coinciding with Armenian Remembrance Day that “the American people honor all those Armenians who perished in the genocide that began 106 years ago today.”
“We honor the victims of the Meds Yeghern so that the horrors of what happened are never lost to history,” the president said. “We remember so that we remain ever-vigilant against the corrosive influence of hate in all its forms.”
26 Apr in 12:00
Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly Ararat Mirzoyan signed the law on amendments to the Electoral Code, according to NA the press service.
On April 1, the parliament passed this proposed law, according to which elections in Armenia shall be held by the proportional representation electoral system; that is, the rating -based electoral system has been abolished in the country.
Armenia’s President Armen Sarkissian has not signed the law in 21-day period after its adoption and neither did he dispute its constitutionality.
According to the Part 3 of Article 129 of Armenia’s Constitution after the date expires the authority to sign the law has passed to NA speaker.
Armenian parliament speaker signs Electoral Code bill into law
Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly Ararat Mirzoyan on Monday signed into law a bill on amendments to the Electoral Code after President Armen Sarkissian refused to sign it and did not challenge its constitutionally.
According to Article 129 (Part 3) of the Constitution of Armenia, the parliament speaker is entitled to approve a bill adopted by the National Assembly in case the president fails to either sign it into law or challenge its constitutionality within a 21-day period.
The legislative changes propose switching to the proportional system, removing the current mixed system that allows MPs to be elected via a combination between the proportional and the so-called rating-based system.