Pashinyan declares the end of the political crisis in Armenia; Kocharyan intents to challenge the results in the Constitutional Court

| News, Armenia

On 21 June, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called all political forces in the country to end the hostilities that were waging during the election campaign. 

“The people of Armenia have made a decision. The people of Armenia have created a new political reality and situation. And the first point of that situation is the following. I urge all political forces, public activists to start from a simple point – put an end to insulting one another… I call on our political supporters that we put an end to insulting others, because a new page in the history of Armenia and Karabakh opens and we should start that new page from the consolidation of national and public consolidation,” Pashinyan stated. He admitted that for some objective or subjective reasons he could not avoid such moods as well. 

Pashinyan added that this does not mean that they will step back from any obligation he and his Civil Contract party have assumed in front of the people, adding that there will be indisputable legality, rule, and order in Armenia. He also made a second proposal, reminding that returning to the people what has been looted from them has always been an urgent agenda of their government. He underlined that during the last 3 years they did not take anything from anyone by force, wishing that institutions should operate in the country that would not be influenced by individuals. Pashinyan reminded that the mechanism for confiscation of illegal property was launched and will inevitably operate. He also suggested that all those who have illegal property in the country, that they could negotiate with the government and return the theft on their own.

“The internal political crisis, which started in Armenia on 9 November 2020, is over. Starting tomorrow, we will work as usual. And we must understand that the conditions and the [political] climate in the country has changed significantly, because the people gave us a mandate to impose a dictatorship of the law in the country,” Pashinyan emphasised.

On the other side of the spectrum, the leader of the “Armenia” bloc Robert Kocharyan stated that he does not accept the election results and that he would challenge the results in front of the Constitutional Court. He said the country’s authorities used mobile groups and servicemen in the process. “If not for the administrative resource, they wouldn't have managed to form a majority,” he added. However, Kocharyan emphasised that his party would take up the parliamentary seats it won in the elections. “Our struggle will become much more intense. Parliamentary levers will allow us to work… more actively in other directions. We will fight against this regime by all possible means, both in and outside the parliament. If they [the current authorities] continue in the same spirit, with the same vendettas, I have no doubt that one more extraordinary election will be held in Armenia again. And this will not last long,” he added.

The representatives of the “I have honour bloc” stated that they would continue the fight against the country’s authorities. “These shameful elections not only will fail to solve the issues of our people but will create new ones. At the same time, we are sure that the real opposition field must accept its mistakes and shortcomings as well. Heading to elections in the condition of post-war shock and created crisis in the country was a mistake but laying the whole burden of failure on the people is a bigger mistake,” the bloc’s statement underscored. The representatives of the Prosperous Armenia party refrained from accessing the election results until the investigation of the violations during the elections was concluded. The leader of the Hanrapetutyun Party Aram Sargsyan, on the other hand, congratulated Pashinyan and held a tête-à-tête with him. Sargsyan told Pashinyan that he and his political party would always stand with the State and statehood since Armenia’s independence is the most important thing for them. He added that they have proposals for the economy and would be glad to present them to the government and try to be consistent with implementation of those proposals. 

The Armenian Apostolic Church also congratulated Pashinyan on his victory and positively assessed his speech after the elections. “By the mercy of God, the parliamentary elections… had a relatively peaceful course and passed without serious incidents. It is extremely important for the [Armenian] Church that the political force assuming the leadership of the country be able to ensure and guarantee pro-patriotic solutions to vital… issues…, and other issues that have nationwide coverage. The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin positively assesses the reference made yesterday by acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during the rally to the importance of solidarity, unity, consolidation of the whole national potential… The Acting Prime Minister's proposal for a dialogue addressed to the spiritual leaders is also welcome," the Church’s statement read.

The US State Department also released a statement after the elections. “We welcome the overall positive assessment by the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission. We are pleased that ODIHR’s preliminary conclusions noted voters’ human rights and fundamental freedoms were generally respected, contestants were able to campaign freely, and that ODIHR assessed election-day vote counting as positive. We share ODIHR’s concern regarding intense polarisation and inflammatory rhetoric among key contestants.  We urge Armenians of all political affiliations to respect the results of these elections once certified, employ the legal election grievance process to address issues of concern, and avoid political retaliation as Armenia continues to pursue a sovereign, democratic, peaceful, and prosperous future,” the statement read. “We commend Armenia for the progress it has made with respect to reforms and anti-corruption efforts and encourage Armenia to continue along this path, in line with the aspirations of the Armenian people, as expressed in the spring of 2018. We urge all parties to respect the rule of law and democratic principles and look forward to working with the new Government to grow our bilateral relationship and cooperation,” it added. 

The EU delegation in Armenia also released a statement, saying that the elections were competitive and generally well-managed within a short timeframe. “We are looking forward to working closely with all Armenian institutions, including the newly elected Parliament and government. The European Union calls on all political forces to now work together in order to effectively tackle the challenges Armenia is confronted with, in the interest of the Armenian citizens. The European Union stands ready to further strengthen our bilateral relations and to support Armenia in its important reform agenda based on the joint commitments in the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement,” the delegation’s statement read.

Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili also congratulated Pashinyan on his victory. “I extend warmest congratulations to Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan on handling successful elections and victory of the Civil Contract Party according to the preliminary results. I wish all success ahead. I look forward to working closely with the new Armenian Government,” he tweeted. Pashinyan responded to Garibashvili’s congratulations, wishing to further deepen and enhance the relationship between Armenia and Georgia and also wishing for peace in the entire South Caucasus region. 

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that it was necessary to wait for the formation of the new Armenian government in order to have insight into the processes in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jehyun Bayramov also commented on the results of the Armenian elections. “We believe that the Armenian government will study the causes of the crisis and draw the right conclusions from it,” he said. In Bayramov’s opinion, the reasons for the crisis in Armenia were not caused by the defeat in the Second Karabakh war but lie in the policy of aggression that Armenia has pursued for decades through violating international law, using force and changing the internationally recognised state borders.

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