The council of elders of Armenia’s Yeghegnut village is preparing to file a lawsuit against the August 20 decision of the Central Electoral Commission to dismiss the administrative proceedings instituted based on the application of 27 July 2020 to hold a referendum in the village. This is what President of the “For Welfare, Humanitarian and Economic Development of People” NGO Ayser Isayan told Armenian News-NEWS.am today. Isayan supports the efforts of the residents of Yeghegnut to hold a referendum.

Isayan stated that the Central Electoral Commission expressed its position with rejection, which is not within the limits of the law. “We’re going to file an appeal against the decision in court,” he added.

Isayan says if the authorities realize the importance of the referendum, they will understand that the village is taking a big burden off their shoulders. “Instead of closing roads or holding demonstrations in front of the government building when there is a problem with the heads of the village, the people will simply collect the required number of signatures and present demands for a referendum by law,” he said.

During the August 11 session for consideration of the joint application for holding a local referendum in Yeghenut village, the proceedings presented to the 15th precinct commission were dismissed since there were two omissions in the application. One of the omissions was that the source of funding for holding a referendum was not indicated, and the second was that there was no date for the voting that was supposed to be designated by the head of the village.

After shift of power in 2018, Razmik Margaryan, the former head of Yeghegnut village, prematurely resigned under pressure of the villagers, and later, upon regional governor Gagik Mirijanyan’s decision, Razmik Mkrtchyan was appointed head of the village. Razmik Margaryan appealed to the Administrative Court and Court of Appeal with the demand to annul the regional governor’s decision and return his powers.

After the trial that lasted a year-and-a-half, the Administrative Court annulled former regional governor Gagik Mirijanyan’s decision. Now the council of elders suggests holding a local referendum to solve the issue.