The Bright Armenia Party is hereby drawing the attention of the public and professional circles to the changes planned in the Electoral Code authored by the RA government

The Bright Armenia Party is hereby drawing the attention of the public and professional circles to the changes planned in the Electoral Code authored by the RA government, which are included in the agenda of the eighth session of the National Assembly.
Among other provisions, the government plans to regulate the issue of suspending the election process in the event of declaring a state of emergency or martial law. According to that amendment, if a state of emergency or martial law is declared within seven days after the election day, the electoral process is considered suspended by law, after which the resumption of the electoral process necessarily implies the organization and holding of a new vote.
This means that when the preliminary results of the vote are already known, the government, based on subjective perceptions, can declare martial law or a state of emergency, which will automatically nullify the will expressed by the people, the results of the already held election and lead to a new vote.
Bright Armenia considers both, this amendment and the government’s persistence in keeping the principle of stable majority, which has been criticized a lot, as a demonstration government’s narrow and short-sighted interests. This, however, may become an anti-democratic tool in the hands of both current and future governments, for annulling the undesirable outcome of elections, i.e. the expression of people’s will.
We strongly condemn the implementation of such an amendment and demand to refrain from this anti-democratic change.
The full paragraph of the amendment is presented below.
"In the event of a declaration of martial law or a state of emergency after the start of the period for nominating candidates for elections to the National Assembly or local government bodies until the preliminary election results are summarized and certified by a protocol, then the electoral process shall be considered suspended by law from the moment martial law or a state of emergency is declared, after which the resumption of the electoral process shall necessarily involve the organization and conduct of a new vote."