Seda Safaryan to join Constitutional Court review of election challenge

Constitutional Court judge Seda Safaryan will take part in proceedings on challenges to the June 7 parliamentary election results, despite objections raised by the opposition Hayastan (Armenia) alliance.

Safaryan, who ran as a candidate in the 2021 elections on the Babajanyan–Shirinyan bloc list, was accused by critics of potential bias due to her past political affiliation. Attorney Hovhannes Khudoyan argued that her prior alliance with politician Arman Babajanyan — himself a petitioner in the current case — should disqualify her.

The Constitutional Court, however, told Pastinfo on Wednesday that it had not considered Safaryan’s participation grounds for recusal, allowing her to remain on the bench. In contrast, judges Artak Zeynalyan and Vladimir Vardanyan were formally excluded from the hearings, with the Court citing their “prejudicial attitudes” toward parties involved.

As a result, seven of the top court’s nine judges are expected to preside over the high-stakes review scheduled for June 26.