Pashinyan explains why voter turnout in Yerevan elections is low
23.09.2018,
16:53
Stopping over in Paris, France, en route to New York to attend a UN General Assembly session, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan provided his comments on the low voter turnout in the Yerevan Council of Elders election, which according to the Central Election Commission (CEC) data, was about 24 percent as of 2 pm.
YEREVAN, September 23. /ARKA/. Stopping over in Paris, France, en route to New York to attend a UN General Assembly session, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan provided his comments on the low voter turnout in the Yerevan Council of Elders election, which according to the Central Election Commission (CEC) data, was about 24 percent as of 2 pm. According to Armenian police, voter lists in Yerevan have 848,343 people, of whom only 201,268 voted in the elections as of 2 pm.
In a live Facebook broadcast from Paris Pashinyan explained the low voter turnout by the fact that voters are no longer bused by the authorities to the polling stations to vote for them in return for bribes. "However, I hope that more voters will go to the polls. These are unique elections, and they are unique because the voters’ ballots will affect the final result,” Pashinyan said, noting that this fact is creating a kind of intrigue.
The prime minister expressed confidence that the electoral process, as well as the vote counting, will proceed in the atmosphere of love and tolerance, but stressed that law enforcement agencies are l on the alert to carry out their work.
In his words, so far only two minor incidents were reported, but everyone has already understood that nothing will interfere with the free expression of will of the citizens. Pashinyan said his next live Facebook broadcast will be from New York where he will participate in the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly.
On August 16, the Armenian government terminated the powers of the Council of Elders. Elections to the Council of Elders are held by party lists. If a party wins more than 50% of the seats in the Council of Elders, the first number in the party’s list is considered elected mayor.
The Civil Contract party, headed by the Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, nominated a popular actor Hayk Marutyan as a mayoral candidate. The Prosperous Armenia party nominated MP Naira Zohrabyan. Candidates for the post of mayor were also nominated by the Zharangutyun (Heritage) Party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation/Dashnaktsutyun, the Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) party and the Light alliance of justice minister Artak Zeynalyan. Overall, the elections to the Council of Elections are being contested by 9 parties and 4 blocs.
Speaking to reporters after casting his ballot, one of the candidates, Artak Zeynalyan said these election lack what he called ‘the oppressive atmosphere of bribes and the use of administrative resources and levers of the previous polls."-0-
In a live Facebook broadcast from Paris Pashinyan explained the low voter turnout by the fact that voters are no longer bused by the authorities to the polling stations to vote for them in return for bribes. "However, I hope that more voters will go to the polls. These are unique elections, and they are unique because the voters’ ballots will affect the final result,” Pashinyan said, noting that this fact is creating a kind of intrigue.
The prime minister expressed confidence that the electoral process, as well as the vote counting, will proceed in the atmosphere of love and tolerance, but stressed that law enforcement agencies are l on the alert to carry out their work.
In his words, so far only two minor incidents were reported, but everyone has already understood that nothing will interfere with the free expression of will of the citizens. Pashinyan said his next live Facebook broadcast will be from New York where he will participate in the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly.
On August 16, the Armenian government terminated the powers of the Council of Elders. Elections to the Council of Elders are held by party lists. If a party wins more than 50% of the seats in the Council of Elders, the first number in the party’s list is considered elected mayor.
The Civil Contract party, headed by the Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, nominated a popular actor Hayk Marutyan as a mayoral candidate. The Prosperous Armenia party nominated MP Naira Zohrabyan. Candidates for the post of mayor were also nominated by the Zharangutyun (Heritage) Party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation/Dashnaktsutyun, the Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) party and the Light alliance of justice minister Artak Zeynalyan. Overall, the elections to the Council of Elections are being contested by 9 parties and 4 blocs.
Speaking to reporters after casting his ballot, one of the candidates, Artak Zeynalyan said these election lack what he called ‘the oppressive atmosphere of bribes and the use of administrative resources and levers of the previous polls."-0-
