In an interview with several media outlets publicized on Thursday, Karapetian again rejected as fraudulent the official election results that gave victory to Pashinian’s Civil Contract party.
According to Armenia’s Central Election Commission (CEC), Civil Contract won the ballot with 49.8 percent of the vote, while Strong Armenia finished second with 23.3 percent, followed by former President Robert Kocharian’s Hayastan bloc (9.9 percent). Strong Armenia, Hayastan and four other opposition groups are planning to challenge the vote results in the Constitutional Court.
“I propose that we create a coordinating council, talk live on air, expose all problems to our people and … make sense of steps that need to be taken,” said Karapetian.
In his words, they need to decide, in particular, whether or not Strong Armenia and Hayastan should take up their parliament seats and how to prevent Pashinian from “ruling single-handedly” and making more concessions to Azerbaijan.
Hayastan welcomed the idea of a “post-election opposition coalition” floated by Karapetian. One of its leading members, Ishkhan Saghatelian, listed similar issues which he believes should top its agenda. He said the appeals to the Constitutional Court are the most immediate opposition task.
“Of course, we realize that the Constitutional Court is a court formed by Civil Contract, but we are giving the court a chance to prove that it serves Armenia and the constitution, not Nikol Pashinian,” Saghatelian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Many opposition supporters are skeptical about the legal action and want the opposition to challenge the election results in the streets. Saghatelian indicated that anti-government rallies will be ahead of Constitutional Court rulings on the appeals.
Karapetian likewise announced that opposition forces will jointly rally supporters in Yerevan “soon.” He disagreed with those who believe they should have launched a sustained campaign of street protests right after the elections. Such protests would not have made a difference, he said, adding that they should be staged “at the right time” later on.
Pashinian on Wednesday again rejected the fraud claims and vowed to “crush” Karapetian, Kocharian and Gagik Tsarukian, the leader of another major opposition part that challenged him in the polls.