Mukuchyan Discusses Possible Postponement of Elections

The Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission, Tigran Mukuchyan, stated during a press conference with journalists today that there has never been such a large number of parties and alliances expressing their desire to participate in elections since 2012.

“The large number of those wishing to participate creates additional burdens. It is enough to remember that each party will have its own ballot, and at this moment, with a certain number of registered parties, each of these parties will need a ballot printed. The basis for this is the number of voters multiplied by the number of parties. In the case of 26 parties, this is a huge volume. We must complete the printing,” he emphasized.

Tigran Mukuchyan highlighted that the deadline for nominations of parties and alliances has expired. “Yesterday, 27 political forces were nominated: 4 alliances and 23 parties. We received a request to withdraw from the Christian Democratic Party. The number of parties and alliances cannot increase, but I cannot say about a decrease; there are two options: 1 - if any party submits a request to withdraw their nomination, and option 2 - based on the examination of documents, a decision can be made to deny the registration of a specific party/alliance. May 30 is the final deadline; a session will take place on that day to make a decision on the registration of parties,” he noted.

When asked whether there had been discussions with the ruling elite regarding the postponement of elections, considering the tense situation in the region, Mukuchyan stated that he had not had any discussions about such an issue. “I have not discussed such a problem with anyone. There are electoral processes that must be conducted within specific timelines set by the Electoral Code. Any function, if not carried out on a given day, can be done the next day,” he said.

Discussing the expenses planned for conducting the elections, the CEC chairman mentioned that when the expenses were being planned, they did not anticipate such a number of nominated parties or alliances.