yelk Archives

Armenia Yelk accuses HHK of electoral fraud in Parliament

March 1, 2018 By administrator

The Yelk opposition alliance on Wednesday accused the pro-government majority in the Armenian parliament of using fraud to elect a key member of a new judicial body set up in the country.

The National Assembly voted earlier in the day to select five of the ten members of the Supreme Council of the Judiciary to oversee the Armenian courts. All elected members of the council have been appointed by the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK). Among them Gaguik Harutiunian, incumbent president of the Constitutional Court, was elected by 96 votes to two, according to Gaguik Melikian, head of a committee of the ad hoc parliament that administered the vote by secret ballot.

Shortly after the announcement of the voting results, Yelk leader Nikol Pashinian denounced a fraud, insisting that he and six other deputies representing Yelk voted against Harutiunian. “I see this as an insignificant chicanery by representatives of the [parliamentary] majority that is directed against Yelk and has far-reaching political goals,” Pachinian accused, demanding a criminal investigation into the alleged fraud.

Gaguik Melikian rejected the accusations, arguing that a protocol on the results of the vote was signed by all members of his commission, including Yelk’s Lena Nazarian. Edward Sharmazanov, a vice-speaker of parliament also affiliated to the HHK, made a similar remark: “I participated in the vote count but I can not be sure that the ballots scored against [Harutiunian] have not been replaced by ballots marked for him, “said Lena Nazarian. She claimed that such fraud may have been committed by another member of the Melikian Commission.

Yelk’s allegations were angrily denied by HHK House Leader Vahram Baghdasarian. “To get 96, 86 or 80 votes would not make any difference to Gaguik Harutiunian or to us,” he said, adding, “Please do not cause problems and disturb our work with useless statements. . “

According to the amended Constitution of Armenia, the main task of the Supreme Council of the Judiciary is to “guarantee the independence of the courts and judges”. The Council will appoint virtually all new judges to be appointed by the Armenian President and the National Assembly. It can also take disciplinary action against judges or put an end to their activity.

The other five members of the Council will be chosen by the judges of the country who have worked for at least ten years.

Thursday, March 1st, 2018,
Claire © armenews.com

Yelk bloc: Clear roadmap necessary for removing Armenian president

July 3, 2017 By administrator

Lawmaker from Yelk bloc has said that a certain roadmap is necessary for removing president Serzh Sargsyan and ruling Republican party of Armenia (RPA) from power and promised that the alliance will publish the formula as soon as it finds it.

Yelk bloc declared earlier that it will do its best to prevent president Sargsyan from becoming prime minister in 2018. Another opposition party, Heritage has said it’s bracing for a velvet regime change.

Commenting on Heritage’s calls for joining forces, the MP said a certain roadmap is necessary to achieve their goal.

“They treat the people as a bunch of objects and tell them to take to the streets and fight, and then abandon them for some reason,” RFE/RL Armenian Service cited Mirzoyan as saying.

“We need a clear roadmap of what we’re going to do after launching our struggle.”

According to him, the bloc has never said they will submit a proposal by all means.

“Whenever we find a formula for removing Serzh Sargsyan from power, we’ll publish it, because openness and transparency are the fundamental principles of our activity,” the lawmaker added.

Armenian Election Update: Armenia’s YELK bloc members meet U.S. ambassador ahead of elections

March 7, 2017 By administrator

>Members of YELK bloc Aram Sargsyan, Edmon Marukyan, Artak Zeynalyan and Alen Simonyan on Monday, March 6 met the U.S. ambassador to Armenia Richard M. Mills.

At the meeting, a number of issues concerning the upcoming parliamentary elections were discussed.

A total of nine parties and alliances are participating in elections to the National Assembly, slated for April 2.

The sides dwelled upon the launch of election campaign and other political issues.

Ambassador Mills said it is important to have Armenian voters believe that their voice counts.

“I join you to refute rumors suggesting that video cameras and identification technology have been installed in polling stations to track how people vote,” he said.

“I urge all Armenians to go to the polls on April 2 for the sake of the country’s future.”