The amendments to the Armenian Electoral Code drafted by the ruling Civil Contract party will empower the Central Election Commission (CEC) to disqualify vote-monitoring groups that are not deemed “politically neutral and impartial.”
“The current Electoral Code does not set sufficient and effective legal mechanisms to monitor and ensure the proper fulfillment of the obligation of political neutrality and impartiality by observation missions and observers. The legislative initiative aims to correct this gap,” Civil Contract’s Arusyak Julhakian said as she presented the bill to fellow parliament deputies.
The National Assembly swiftly approved the bill in the first reading during an extraordinary session held under a so-called “urgent procedure” allowing its full passage within just 24 hours. The parliament’s two opposition factions boycotted the short session after the pro-government majority refused to put up the proposed amendments for public discussion before debating them.
Artsvik Minasian of the main opposition Hayastan alliance argued that the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission believes such discussions must precede any amendment to the electoral laws of Armenia and other countries making up the Strasbourg-based organization.
“This is yet another attempt to put the electoral process under full government control and legitimize election fraud,” charged Minasian.
He said the authorities will use the new curbs to punish Armenian vote monitors exposing irregularities committed in favor of Civil Contract and other pro-government parties. Julhakian dismissed his claims, saying that Hayastan wants to let opposition-linked activists to continue to operate under the guise of election observers.
Minasian countered that the CEC itself is not impartial. The body organizing national and local elections is headed by Vahagn Hovakimian, a longtime ally of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
Armenia - CEC Chairman Vahagn Hovakimian speaks at a news conference, Yerevan, August 3, 2023.
Hovakimian is a former journalist who worked for Pashinian’s Haykakan Zhamanak daily from 1998 to 2012. Pashinian hired him as a parliamentary assistant after being first elected to the parliament in 2012. Hovakimian was a senior member of Pashinian’s party until he became CEC chairman in October 2022.
Hovakimian insisted late last month that he will do his best to ensure the proper conduct of the parliamentary elections slated for June. The Armenian opposition was unconvinced by his assurances.
The opposition fears have been stoked by election-related assistance requested by the Armenian government from the European Union. The EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, revealed on December 14 that Yerevan is seeking the kind of “help to fight foreign malign interference” which the EU provided to Moldova ahead of parliamentary elections held there in September 2025.
Opposition leaders as well as some commentators claim that Pashinian is trying to secure EU support for winning the upcoming polls through fraud or foul play. They fear, in particular, that the CEC will disqualify some major opposition groups from the 2026 vote.
In Moldova, two opposition parties deemed pro-Russian were barred from participating in the elections won by the country’s pro-Western leadership. The EU justified those bans, alleging Russian interference in the Moldovan elections.