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Thursday, 17 April 2003
ARMENIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT RULES THAT PRESIDENTIAL POLL WAS VALID
By empty (4/17/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The Constitutional Court rejected on 16 April a lawsuit by defeated presidential candidate Stepan Demirchian claiming that the February-March presidential ballot was marred by legal, constitutional, and procedural violations and should therefore be declared void, RFE/RL\'s Yerevan bureau reported. But the court acknowledged Demirchian\'s claim that the official returns from some 40 constituencies are \"not credible\" due to ballot-box stuffing and other irregularities. The court ordered the Prosecutor-General\'s Office to launch a criminal investigation into those irregularities.
The Constitutional Court rejected on 16 April a lawsuit by defeated presidential candidate Stepan Demirchian claiming that the February-March presidential ballot was marred by legal, constitutional, and procedural violations and should therefore be declared void, RFE/RL\'s Yerevan bureau reported. But the court acknowledged Demirchian\'s claim that the official returns from some 40 constituencies are \"not credible\" due to ballot-box stuffing and other irregularities. The court ordered the Prosecutor-General\'s Office to launch a criminal investigation into those irregularities. The court also recommended that existing election legislation be amended to provide for the holding of a \"referendum of confidence\" in the country\'s leadership, and that such a referendum be held within the next 12 months. (RFE/RL)