ABSURD, IMITATION BUT NOT REFORM

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| 11:48:24 | 18-06-2005 | Politics |

Members of extra parliamentary parties are disappointed in the amended
Electoral Code.

“As a matter of fact there are no principal differences between the
acting and amended Electoral Code. There are no obvious changes as
regards the suffrage and electoral system”, second secretary of the
Communist party Frunze Kharatyan says. Powerful Fatherland party is
as well discontent. In their opinion no reformation took place and
today’s Electoral Code conflicts with the Constitution, as the latter
formulates the authorities of the juridical system.

Chairman of Powerful Fatherland party Vardan Vardapetyan hints at the
new order of formation of the election commissions. “We have 170 judges
and actually 90 of them should participate in the work of the election
commissions. Thus, it turns out that the judge should abandon his work
and joint the election commission. There are plenty of violations fixed
in each commission and the judge from the polling station should sit
into the judge’s chair and take a decision. It’s absurd”, he says.

The Communist party considers that the situations has become more
complicated. “What do the courts have to do with the election
commissions. Actually, at present the juridical bodies take more
active part in the election process than the parties and states bodies
do”, Frunze Kharatyan says.

By the way, all the extra parliamentary forces note the importance
of the formation of the election commissions, since in Armenia
the final outcome of the elections is still decided in these
commissions. The political forces not presented in the parliament
hold the opinion that in order to preserve balance the commission
should involve representatives of all the parties participating in
the elections. “Otherwise, the whole process is a mere imitation”,
they say.

Lena Badeyan