Under the Proportional Electoral System, the People Gain the Right to Form a Political Elite, Marukyan Says

Changing the electoral code in the National Assembly without the opposition inherently casts doubt on the legitimacy of the elections, with all the consequences that follow. This was stated today, April 1st, during a conversation with journalists in the National Assembly by Edmond Marukyan, the leader of the 'Enlightened Armenia' faction, referring to the ruling party's intention to introduce a closed list proportional electoral system in the Electoral Code, where voters vote for a party’s list but cannot propose changes to it.

“This is also done to reduce participation because if we imagine that out of 1.2 million voters, Nikol Pashinyan receives 300,000 votes, that is one percentage point. If he receives 300,000 votes out of 1 million votes, that is a different percentage. Therefore, they need people to have no motivation to go to the polls. Under the proportional electoral system, the people gain the right to form a political elite. They effectively do not allow new forces to participate, new people to get involved, and party leaders decide who will be where,” he said.

To the question of whether the LHK might violate the agreement and nominate a candidate for Prime Minister, considering that they are already changing the rules of the game, Marukyan said, “If your opponent is cheating, you say he is bad, but if you do the same thing, you become like him. I do not intend to cancel my public promise. Because I know that there will be a change in Armenia based on the results of these elections if the elections are not falsified; therefore, there is no reason to postpone the elections. That would only benefit them.”