Aram Vardevanyan, a lawyer and parliamentary candidate from the Strong Armenia Alliance, has stated that some of the recordings published by Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Committee and attributed to the alliance were edited and are being used to discredit the political force.
“Such cases do not exist in general, and we are now talking about separate and independent proceedings. The presumption of innocence does not function in our country either. Why are these recordings being published when even their authenticity has not been verified? This is an attempt to create an atmosphere of fear and, in a certain sense, an effort to discredit us, but it will not succeed,” Vardevanyan said, according to Sputnik Armenia.
Commenting on possible misuse of administrative resources by the authorities during the election campaign, the lawyer noted that complaints had been submitted to the Central Electoral Commission. However, in his assessment, the body has demonstrated complete inaction, as expected.
“We will remain persistent on that issue as well. What is surprising is that these matters are already in the public domain, yet no criminal proceedings have been launched. If the authorities believe our compatriots do not notice this selective justice, they are mistaken. People see everything and draw their own conclusions,” he said.
According to Vardevanyan, hate speech and rhetoric encouraging violence have been widely used during the campaign by the ruling Civil Contract party. He argued that this has also been noted by the international community, while Armenia’s Prosecutor General’s Office and the Central Electoral Commission have recorded no violations and found no elements of a criminal offense.
The lawyer stressed that he intends to continue pursuing the issue until the end.
Vardevanyan also did not rule out the possibility that the ruling Civil Contract party could attempt electoral fraud during the vote. However, he said that Strong Armenia has already developed certain mechanisms to counter such actions.
“If voter turnout is high, then no government will be effective in implementing any fraud mechanism,” the lawyer said.
The election campaign, which began on May 8, will continue through June 5. June 6 will be a day of silence, and parliamentary elections will take place on June 7. On May 25, it became known that the Alliance Progressive Centrist Party had submitted a withdrawal request, after which the Central Electoral Commission invalidated the registration of the party’s electoral list. As a result, ballot number 13 will not appear in the upcoming elections.
