Armenian opposition leader says last-minute electoral reform 'inherently illegal'

An Armenian opposition lawmaker on Tuesday denounced proposed amendments to the country’s Electoral Code as unlawful, accusing the ruling party of attempting to rewrite election rules just two months before a vote.

Hayk Mamijanyan, who heads the opposition Pativ Unem faction, told an extraordinary parliament session that the measure proposed by MPs from the ruling Civil Contract Party was “inherently illegal” regardless of its stated technical rationale.

“You are changing electoral legislation two months before the elections,” Mamijanyan said, arguing that the timing alone undermines the legitimacy of the process.

He added that the proposal appears to target opposition forces, noting that a major opposition alliance had already announced its name prior to the amendment. “You are introducing a bill that effectively restricts and prohibits this,” he said.

The draft law, introduced by ruling party MPs Arusyak Julhakyan, Alkhas Ghazaryan and Artur Hovhannisyan, proposes a series of changes to the Electoral Code. Among them is a provision barring political alliances from adopting names that include personal names or references to state or local government bodies, as well as names deemed misleading, defamatory or offensive.

Mamijanyan said his faction would vote against both placing the bill on the agenda and its eventual adoption.