The Armenian National Congress (HAK) has Friday formally asked the Central Election Commission (CEC) to invalidate the official results of the disputed referendum of December 6 on the required constitutional changes by President Serzh Sargsyan.
HAK representatives have submitted to the CEC that the opposition party called Serious Fraud evidence that allowed Sarkisian to ensure the victory of the “yes” to the radical changes that will transform Armenia into a parliamentary republic.
“It may be naive to hope that the electoral bodies are listening, but even if there are only 0.01% of change that our application be successful, we must do it,” argued one of them, Armen Khachatrian.
According to the referendum results published by the CEC, more than 63% of voters supported constitutional reform. The CEC published a participation rate of about 51%, just enough to make the referendum valid.
The official count was dismissed as fraudulent by the HAK and other opposition groups that are against the constitutional reform, as well as by Armenian civic groups that have deployed hundreds of observers at polling stations across the country .
Speaking to reporters earlier Friday, Levon Zurabian, Vice President of HAK, claimed that no more than one third of the electorate voted Sunday and that 70% of them rejected the proposed amendments.
Zurabian defied the Armenian authorities to randomly select five electoral offices and publish the official lists of local residents who have voted. He said that a detailed review of these lists show that many voters are not actually go to the polls on December 6.
“Republicans falsifiers keep these lists as a state secret, because they know that if these lists are made public and examined, it becomes clear that they have completely violated the will of the Armenian people,” Zurabian said.
The CEC, which is dominated by loyalists of the government, certainly reject the HAK application to declare null and void the referendum.
Zurabian said early last week that the HAK and its allies of the opposition are ready to take their case to the Constitutional Court of Armenia. Such an appeal should be supported by at least 27 members of the Armenian Parliament. The HAK has only a handful of seats in the National Assembly.
Claire © armenews.com