Armenia’s top court to rule on opposition party election challenge

Armenia’s Constitutional Court will decide within two days whether to accept a lawsuit filed by the Strong Armenia bloc led by Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan seeking to annul the results of the June 7 parliamentary elections.

The court said within two days of registering an application, it holds a working session to decide on its admissibility, Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenian media.

If the application is accepted for consideration, a rapporteur judge is appointed to prepare the case for trial.

Hearings on disputes related to National Assembly election results are conducted through oral proceedings.

The court is required to issue a ruling no later than 15 days after the application is registered.

Earlier, the Strong Armenia bloc led by Karapetyan reportedly filed a petition with the Constitutional Court demanding the annulment of the June 7 parliamentary election results.

According to the Central Election Commission’s final results published on June 14, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party won more than 49.7% of the vote, allowing it to form a government alone.

The Strong Armenia bloc received about 23.3%, while the Armenia bloc led by former President Robert Kocharyan secured more than 9.9%. Businessman Gagik Tsarukyan’s Prosperous Armenia failed to pass the 4% threshold, winning about 3.9%.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov