No Grounds to Invalidate Election Results, Galyan Says

YEREVAN — The arguments submitted to the Constitutional Court do not contain grounds for invalidating the election results, while the reported violations should be addressed by law enforcement bodies, Armenia’s Justice Minister Srbuhi Galyan told reporters on June 30.

“There are no grounds leading to invalidation in any of the arguments presented by anyone,” the minister said.

Since June 26, the Constitutional Court has been examining, through oral proceedings, the applications filed by seven political forces challenging the results of the National Assembly elections.

According to the minister, the executive agrees with the claims made by the “For the Republic” and “Democracy, Law, Discipline” parties that cases of vote buying occurred and that their scale was significant. However, she said these do not constitute legal grounds for invalidating the voting results. Each person found guilty in connection with such cases must be held strictly criminally liable.

Galyan noted that the Ministry of Justice is participating in the process as a third party and has already submitted its position. However, she emphasized that the final conclusion will be made exclusively by the court.

In response to a question about how lawful it is for the ruling Civil Contract party to proceed with the formation of the National Assembly and the government while the results are still being challenged in court, Galyan stressed that as long as the results have not been invalidated, they remain legally in force.

She described the internal process within the ruling party to select candidates for official positions as a democratic and natural development, adding that other political forces are also discussing whether to accept their mandates.

Civil Contract has, through closed secret voting and discussions, selected its candidates for speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly.