YEREVAN. – At Wednesday’s meeting, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) denied the petition by Edmon Marukyan, chairman of the opposition Bright Armenia Party (BAP) and head of its parliamentary faction, to reinstate one seat of the faction after MP Arman Babajanyan’s quitting this faction.

The aforesaid petition was denied by 7 votes to none.

CEC Chairman Tigran Mukuchyan stated that the decision comes into force from the moment it is published at the meeting, and can be appealed to the administrative court within 3 days.

With this petition, Marukyan had required from the CEC to allocate a parliamentary seat to the next number on the BAP's electoral list in order to restore the ratio between the pro-government and opposition MPs provided by the constitutional law.

To note, the Bright Armenia faction had won 18 seats as a result of the National Assembly elections, but MP Arman Babajanyan has left the faction and become an independent member of parliament.