CONSTITUTIONAL COURT DISMISSES LEVON TER-PETROSIAN’S APPLICATION
Noyan Tapan
Feb 12, 2008
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 12, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA Constitutional Court refused
to sustain presidential candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian’s claim to
recognize the difficulties faced by him as insuperable obstacles. CC
made such a decision on February 11.
According to the presidential candidate’s application, the obstacles
that emerged independent on his will make impossible his further
participation in the electoral processes established by the RA
electoral legislation. As a reason it is mentioned that Public
Television through the Haylur program with gross violations of the
provisions of the law On Television and Radio three months running
broadcast anti-agitation programs against RA presidential candidate
Levon Ter-Petrosian and the time given to the candidates for the
election agitation, which is very inconvenient for TV viewers, gives
no possibility to even mitigate Haylur’s anti-agitation.
The court considered that there are not insuperable obstacles for
the candidate, but an argument connected with ensuring legality of
preelection agitation is put forward, which in the order established
by the law has been already submitted to the bodies empowered to
evaluate and solve them at this stage of the elections, the Central
Electoral Commission, the National Commission of Television and Radio,
the Administrative Court.
According to CC’s decision, the constitutional-legal content of the
notion "insuperable obstacle" supposes that in the period from the
moment of being registered a RA presidential candidate to the 8th
day preceding the election day independent on the candidate’s will
a condition has been created, which is impossible to overcome and
which practically has deprived him of the possibility of further
participation in the electoral process. That is interpreted as
impossibility of personally his further participation in the electoral
process conditioned by the concrete state of one of the presidential
candidates.
The Constitutional Court registers that it is the state that ensures
implementation of free electoral agitation of citizens. The law’s
requirement is also that the electoral agitation should be implemented
on equal bases, equal conditions are guaranteed to the candidates for
using media. The Electoral Code establishes that Public Television and
Public Radio are obliged to create equal conditions for all candidates
for presidency, are obliged to broadcast unbiassed information without
any evaluations, by keeping fair and equal conditions.