Armenian analyst warns election commission decision could trigger future legal challenge

Armenian political analyst Suren Surenyants has warned that a controversial decision by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) concerning the allocation of parliamentary seats following the June 14 elections could eventually pose a legal and political challenge to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Surenyants cited anti-corruption activist Daniel Ioannisyan, who criticized the CEC’s ruling and said the commission had placed a “legal time bomb” beneath the election results.

“That ‘bomb’ will explode in the coming weeks or months and shake Pashinyan’s government,” Surenyants wrote.

The remarks followed the CEC’s certification of the final results of Armenia’s parliamentary elections on June 14.

According to the official results, the ruling Civil Contract party won 726,819 votes, or 49.7% of the vote. The Strong Armenia alliance finished second with 340,006 votes, or 23.2%, while the Hayastan alliance received 144,983 votes, or 9.9%.

The Prosperous Armenia Party failed to surpass the 4% threshold required to enter parliament.

Surenyants contends that the CEC unlawfully allocated five parliamentary seats to Civil Contract that should not have been awarded under Armenia’s electoral rules.