Parliament commission chairman defends election code provision

YEREVAN, April 28, /ARKA/. In retaliation to the decision of a member of Armenia’s governing coalition and two leading opposition forces to appeal to the Constitutional Court to strike down a legal provision in the Electoral Code that prohibits publication of the names of voters taking part in elections David Harutyunian, chairman of a parliament committee on legal affairs from the ruling Republican Party, said the provision complies with European standards.

The Prosperous Armenia Party as well as the opposition Armenian National Congress and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) want the court to declare unconstitutional the clause. The Armenian opposition says that publicizing those names is essential to prevent fraudulent voting in the May 6 polls.

"This provision is based on Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters, endorsed by the Venice Commission," Harutyunian told a news conference.

Harutyunyan quoted from the Code, noting that since  non-participation in elections is also expression of political will, the list of voters who participated in the elections should not be published. He added that the Armenian law was passed in compliance with Venice Commission requirements. 

Eight political parties and one electoral bloc are fighting for the May 6 parliamentary elections. They are three coalition parties - the Republican Party of Armenia, Bargavach Hayastan (Prosperous Armenia) and Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law), the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), Zharangutyun (Heritage), which has a combined list with Free Democrats, the Armenian National Congress (electoral bloc), the Democratic Party of Armenia, the Armenian Communist Party and the United Armenians party.

The campaign for parliamentary elections kicked off on April 8 and will run through May 4. Experts believe that the main battle will be between the Republican Party of Armenia, Prosperous Armenia and the opposition Armenian National Congress. The National Assembly consists of 131 deputies (41 deputies are elected under the majoritarian system (single-mandate constituencies) and 90 under the proportional representation system (by party lists). To enter the National Assembly, political parties need to overcome the 5% threshold. The barrier for alliances is 7%.

The current parliament, formed following the May 12 elections is made up of five parties - the Republican Party of Armenia, the Prosperous Armenia, Country of Law, Heritage and Armenian Revolutionary Federation. The Republican Party controls 63 seats, Prosperous Armenia – 26, Country of Law – 8, Heritage - 16 and ARF -7 seats. -0-