Election Results Cannot Be Annulled Based on Assumptions, Says Srbuhi Galyan

YEREVAN — The applicant parties failed to prove either the scale of the violations they alleged or their possible impact on the final outcome of the vote, Srbuhi Galyan, representative of the Civil Contract party and minister of justice, said on July 1 during the closing stage of the Constitutional Court hearings on the challenge to the parliamentary election results.

“The applicant was required to prove not only the fact of the alleged violations, but also their impact on the election results. The applicants failed to do so. Election results cannot be annulled based on assumptions,” Galyan said.

Addressing opposition accusations regarding the misuse of administrative resources, the minister clarified that the government’s normal operations, the implementation of social programs and health-care reforms cannot be characterized as unlawful influence on voters.

“What was the government supposed to do — stop its work? For example, should it not have continued the years-long reform of universal health insurance? Should it not have continued implementing social measures?” the Civil Contract representative said.

Galyan also responded to criticism regarding early declarations of victory, countering that her political force counted the votes after voting had ended, while some opposition representatives were already speaking about victory at 8:00 p.m., when that was physically impossible.