In a written address to the nation, Sarkisian congratulated the governing Republican (HHK) and Prosperous Armenia (BHK) parties as well as the opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) on gaining seats in Yerevan’s new municipal council. He also paid tribute to four other parties that failed to win representation in the council despite conducting what he described as “quality election campaigns.”
“The May 31 elections and the entire pre-election period demonstrated that we have managed to solve a considerable part of long-standing problems existing in electoral processes and moved forward in solving others,” said Sarkisian. “As a result, these elections were a truly serious step forward.”
The president further acknowledged violations in “some polling stations” and said he will seek to ensure that “all the guilty are identified and strictly punished.”
In what may have been a related development, Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor-General urged the Central Election Commission (CEC) to order vote recounts in eight precincts in Yerevan’s Malatia-Sebastia district, scene of the largest number of fraud instances reported on election day.
A spokeswoman for the law-enforcement agency, Sona Truzian, told RFE/RL that the recommendation stems from media reports of ballot box stuffing reported from the area. “Also, the prosecutor-general instructed the launch of a criminal case in connection with media reports on ballot stuffing and violence against journalists and observers in various Malatia-Sebastia precincts,” she said.
Truzian said the moves came despite the absence of any written election-related complaints lodged with the prosecutors. Opposition leaders say such complaints are meaningless because of what they see as law-enforcement bodies’ complicity in vote rigging.
That there were serious problems in Malatia-Sebastia was acknowledged on Monday by Abram Bakhchagulian, a member of the CEC affiliates with the ruling HHK. But he said it is too early to say whether they had a serious impact on overall vote results.
“The May 31 elections and the entire pre-election period demonstrated that we have managed to solve a considerable part of long-standing problems existing in electoral processes and moved forward in solving others,” said Sarkisian. “As a result, these elections were a truly serious step forward.”
The president further acknowledged violations in “some polling stations” and said he will seek to ensure that “all the guilty are identified and strictly punished.”
In what may have been a related development, Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor-General urged the Central Election Commission (CEC) to order vote recounts in eight precincts in Yerevan’s Malatia-Sebastia district, scene of the largest number of fraud instances reported on election day.
A spokeswoman for the law-enforcement agency, Sona Truzian, told RFE/RL that the recommendation stems from media reports of ballot box stuffing reported from the area. “Also, the prosecutor-general instructed the launch of a criminal case in connection with media reports on ballot stuffing and violence against journalists and observers in various Malatia-Sebastia precincts,” she said.
Truzian said the moves came despite the absence of any written election-related complaints lodged with the prosecutors. Opposition leaders say such complaints are meaningless because of what they see as law-enforcement bodies’ complicity in vote rigging.
That there were serious problems in Malatia-Sebastia was acknowledged on Monday by Abram Bakhchagulian, a member of the CEC affiliates with the ruling HHK. But he said it is too early to say whether they had a serious impact on overall vote results.