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- The court instead of the street: the Armenian opposition is trying to challenge the results of the scandalous elections
The court instead of the street: the Armenian opposition is trying to challenge the results of the scandalous elections
On June 26, the Constitutional Court of Armenia will begin considering lawsuits filed by seven opposition parties. All of them demand to annul the results of the parliamentary elections held in early June. At the same time, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan clearly makes it clear that he does not intend to negotiate with opponents, promising new repressions instead of dialogue. Izvestia investigated the situation.
Pencil Booths
Seven Armenian opposition parties have filed lawsuits with the Constitutional Court demanding that the results of the June 7 parliamentary elections be annulled. Among the authors of the appeals, the main protest forces of the country are Samvel Karapetyan's "Strong Armenia" and former President Robert Kocharian's "Armenia" bloc, which took second and third places respectively.
Portrait of Strong Armenia party leader Samvel Karapetyan during the party's pre-election march
Lawyer Gohar Meloyan, a representative of Strong Armenia, listed in detail the violations that the party members had recorded. In particular, the authorities forced civil servants to vote for the ruling Civil Contract party, and required them to photograph the ballots as proof. People came to many polling stations with ready-made ballots, and in some cases, unknown people entered the polling booths with the voters.
In addition, suspicion was aroused by the rapid increase in the number of invalid ballots: in the 2018 elections, there were 4.7 thousand such ballots, in 2021 - 4.5 thousand, and in these elections — 17 thousand at once. Finally, questions arose about 846 "rubber apartments", where more than 20 voters were registered. According to Meloyan, the Interior Ministry and the Migration Service have not given any explanations on this issue.
The lawyer also noted that during the counting of votes at a number of polling stations, the final protocols were filled out in pencil, and then the numbers could be easily rewritten. At the same time, the current campaign was accompanied by unprecedented forceful pressure on the opposition. According to Meloyan, about 700 activists of "Strong Armenia" were detained, even elderly women were taken to the police.
A separate scandalous story is connected with the Prosperous Armenia party, which, according to the results of the vote count, received 3.98%, that is, literally a few ballots were not enough for it to pass the 4% barrier. As a result of the recount, the CEC acknowledged that in some cases the votes had mistakenly gone to other political forces.
Supporters of the Prosperous Armenia party during a rally at the monument to Aram Manukyan
The election commission also canceled the results of voting at three polling stations where Prosperous Armenia had good results. The CEC refused to hold re-elections because the opposition allegedly organizes a "tactical vote" for the affected party. As a result, about 3,000 people were simply deprived of the right to vote, and the opposition association remained outside parliament.
The result is known in advance
The prospects for a court case look pretty obvious. The current judges of the Constitutional Court were selected with the active participation of the ruling party and Prime Minister Pashinyan. Back in 2020, they initiated a referendum on the dispersal of the previous independent composition. The general vote was eventually canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the relevant decisions were made by members of parliament.
As a result, several judges resigned ahead of schedule. Hrayr Tovmasyan, who was then the head of the Constitutional Court and was considered one of Pashinyan's main opponents, was first demoted to an ordinary judge, and later also lost his position. He also became involved in two criminal cases, which were later closed due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, and disappeared from the socio-political horizon.
After that, key decisions of the Constitutional Court were made in favor of the current authorities. For example, in September 2024, the Constitutional Court effectively invalidated the country's Declaration of Independence, which prevented Pashinyan from establishing a dialogue with Azerbaijan. In March of this year, the Constitutional Court approved the nationalization of the Electric Networks company, owned by businessman Samvel Karapetyan, who joined the opposition.
Now, some semblance of objectivity will still be respected. For example, two judges who have direct ties to the ruling party have been suspended from considering an opposition appeal. We are talking about former Justice Minister Artak Zeynalyan and ex-deputy from the "Civil Contract" Vladimir Vardanyan.
Nevertheless, there is practically no doubt about the final decision. The first Prime Minister of Armenia, Vazgen Manukyan, says that appealing to the Constitutional Court is useless, because the result is known in advance. "The verdict of the court will only legitimize the elections and create additional problems for the opposition," he said.
The struggle within the framework
Before the elections, representatives of the opposition promised to act in a completely different way. Robert Kocharyan said that he would not allow Pashinyan to "steal victory." In case of large-scale falsifications, he threatened street protests. "If they try to brazenly take away our votes, they will get a revolution," he warned.
Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan
Opinion polls showed that the Armenian society is quite ready for such a scenario. In particular, one of the studies showed that 50.2% of citizens are ready to participate in street actions in case of fraud, that is, half of the country's residents could respond to the call of the opposition. As a result, however, there was no large-scale mobilization of supporters after polling day, with opponents of the authorities holding only a few small pickets and rallies.
Robert Kocharyan did not comment on this topic anymore, and representatives of Samvel Karapetyan's "Strong Armenia" explained that they prefer to act in the legal field. "For us, our compatriots are an exceptional value, and we understand that if street fighting begins, it will be disorderly and full of victims. For this reason, we are not taking this step and remain within the law," said politician Gohar Gumashyan.
At the same time, the country's authorities do not hide the fact that they are not going to restrain themselves. In one of his speeches, Nikol Pashinyan actually announced a new round of political repression. "Any threat to the future of our children must be nipped in the bud. These threats have names: Robert Kocharyan, the Kaluga oligarch and the White Russian oligarch. As Prime Minister, I will eradicate them directly," he promised.
These assurances are already being implemented. Immediately after the election, Gagik Tsarukyan, the leader of Prosperous Armenia, became involved in a criminal case on tax evasion. A case was also opened against former President Robert Kocharyan about some old real estate transactions, while the CEC lifted its immunity and gave its consent to the prosecution of the politician. The Iravunk newspaper, citing sources, writes that scandalous detentions are expected soon.
The authorities also obviously have not given up hope of obtaining a constitutional majority in parliament, that is, 3/5 mandates. The newspaper Graparak reports that Pashinyan's team is hoping to win over several opposition MPs. If this fails, then the plans are to further weaken the opponents through forceful pressure, and then announce early elections.
What the experts say
Caucasian scholar Artur Ataev calls the opposition's lawsuit a gesture of desperation. He notes that Nikol Pashinyan has been increasing his political influence in the post—election period, continuing to contact Western elites on the external circuit, and tightening his rhetoric and forceful pressure on opponents inside the country.
— The judicial and investigative systems in the country are directly subordinate to the Prime Minister. In such circumstances, the opposition is clearly losing ground, and a lawsuit to the Constitutional Court is unlikely to lead to success, the expert believes.
People enter the building of the Constitutional Court. Opposition parties have filed an application to the Constitutional Court of the Republic demanding to annul the results of the parliamentary elections held in Armenia on June 7.
Pashinyan has set a clear goal for himself — to decapitate the largest opposition parties, the source emphasizes. In this regard, several criminal cases have already been launched, and in the future there will be attempts to knock the economic foundation out from under the opposition's feet and take away its main assets.
The opposition is unlikely to achieve anything in the Constitutional Court, since this body is completely controlled by Pashinyan, Armenian political analyst Tigran Kocharyan agrees.
— Each judge is carefully selected, hardly anyone at such a crucial moment will decide to demonstrate disloyalty. Most likely, the verdict is clear in advance. Although the options are still possible. For example, the opposition can still gather people on the streets during the sessions of the Constitutional Court, if the actions are really large-scale, then it will be more difficult for the judges and Pashinyan to insist on the legitimacy of the elections," he argues.
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