Will Martial Law Hinder Early Elections?

In recent days, in Syunik, near Lake Sev and in Gegharkunik, discussions have arisen regarding the incursion of about 250 Azerbaijani nationals into the internationally recognized territory of Armenia and the inaction of our authorities. Opinions suggest that these incidents could provide grounds for the authorities to cancel early elections. It is noted that the potential impossibility of conducting elections due to a possible martial law could serve as justification.

The Armenian Constitution's section on 'Regular Elections' states that regular elections cannot take place during martial law. An early election is also a crisis; thus, one cannot provide a basis for the cancellation of the other, because if there is a crisis, it must be resolved in some way.

At this moment, we do not face an actual threat of war; instead, there is an encroachment on our territorial integrity, which constitutes a crime. In normal countries, the prosecutor's office would initiate a case in such a scenario and issue arrest warrants. In our case, a case was barely initiated, but there are no arrests. This means that the prosecutor's office is currently exhibiting concrete inaction, especially considering that the faces of the Azerbaijani nationals who invaded our territory are known, meaning those who committed the crime have been identified.

Therefore, the actions of our authorities and law enforcement do not currently provide any basis to think about a possible escalation of hostilities as a consequence. Hence, cancelling elections due to the events in Syunik is nonsensical; Nikol Pashinyan needs to consider something else.