Armenian opposition lawyer says ruling party fears repeat vote after election violations

Opposition lawyer Aram Vardevanyan claims that members of Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract party oppose invalidating the results of the June 7 parliamentary elections because they would struggle to repeat the alleged electoral violations if a new vote were held.

Speaking to reporters outside the Constitutional Court on Wednesday, Vardevanyan, who represents the Strong Armenia alliance, said the court was hearing closing arguments in a case brought jointly by seven political groups challenging the election results.

"Today the Constitutional Court will hear the closing statements. The hearing will then conclude, and the court will retire to deliberate. A ruling must be issued no later than July 4," he said.

Asked about ruling party lawmakers' assertions that the petitions lack merit, Vardevanyan said such a response was predictable.

"They could hardly say otherwise," he said. "Why don't they want the election results to be declared invalid? Because the resources used to influence the election would be much harder to mobilize a second time. Those resources are not unlimited."

The Constitutional Court opened hearings on June 26 after consolidating petitions filed by seven political groups seeking to invalidate the official election results.