P.S. Retro: Gagik Harutyunyan felt quite legitimate in his position (video)
Eight years ago, Chairman of the Constitutional Court (CC) Gagik Harutyunyan spoke about things which he claimed were necessary for Armenia like ‘air and water.’ “First, we need to create an independent judicial system, which is the most important issue, and judiciary - judicial power, which has not existed until today,” Harutyunyan said then. The program Post Scriptum hosted the CC Chairman after the 1998 presidential elections. Harutyunyan had already rejected two applications submitted by the opposition figures who wanted the CC to recognize the results of the presidential elections as partially or totally invalid. Harutyunyan said the CC also ruled against the authorities. “Four times we rejected to start proceedings based on complaints filed by them.” The CC Chairman hinted that people would have to wait for democratic elections for a long time under the working Electoral Code. However, he did not regret that he refused to invalidate the 1996 elections. “I would do the same thing even today.” At the same time, Mr. Harutyunyan stressed that citizens had not matured enough to ‘make a conscious choice’ in the elections; they were even unaware of the role of the Constitutional Court. TV viewers were mostly dissatisfied with the work of this man, who, without having a law degree, felt quite legitimate in his position after rejecting two complaints asking to nullify the results of two elections. After 1998, Gagik Harutyunyan and the structure he heads have recognized as valid four rigged elections. Harutyunyan continues to head the Constitutional Court until today.
