Code is to blame again?
"The 1990 Electoral Code was not a good one," said today ARF MP Armen Rustamyan in parliament and recalled that the fairest, most free and most transparent elections were held in the independent Armenia with the worse Electoral Code.
"The reason was because there was political will," said Rustamyan.
During today's discussion on the Electoral Code reforms presented by 7 MPs of the coalition forces, one of the most important objectives is to prevent multiple votes. "We know a case when one person voted 17 times."
The ARF believes that the people must have access to the results of the vote. According to Armen Rustamyan, the most important thing is that both the authorities and the opposition accept the reforms; otherwise, they will continue to change the Electoral Code before and after each election in Armenia.
Parallel to the reforms, the ARF is planning to submit an alternative version of the Electoral Code.
Hovhannes Margaryan from the "Country of Law" party informed that they are in favor of having these reforms be accepted by the first reading.
"Prosperous Armenia" party MP Naira Zohrabyan says she is not surprised to see that the Electoral Code is constantly undergoing reforms and views them as necessary. She informed that the PAP has proposed to change the article of the Criminal Code that sets a penalty for those who falsify the elections. The PAP finds that an official who falsifies should be deprived of his powers for at least 10 years.
NA Chairman Hovik Abrahamyan expressed the Republican Party's viewpoint and mentioned that the party is in favor of voting. Artsvik Minasyan presented the ARF's version of the Electoral Code. According to Minasyan, among the principled issues of the electoral system are the vote count, advocacy, double votes, the formation of electoral commissions, the factor of electoral bribe and more.
According to the ARF's version, all members of the electoral commissions are not obliged to sign under the violations registered by others. They can indicate why they are not signing.
The ARF proposes to hold the elections through an online vote, which will provide the opportunity to know how many envelopes there are in the ballot box.
The ARF clearly knows how to fight against bribes that are often under the veil of benevolence. The ARF also attaches importance to women's participation in electoral processes.
Artsvik Minasyan assured that their draft doesn't create any financial burdens. "Political will lies at the core of our draft."
