The authorities need to find the political will and amend the Electoral Code. This is what President of the Union of Informed Citizens NGO Daniel Ioannisyan told reporters in parliament today.

“The amendments are the amendments that the authorities’ political team has been talking about since the revolution that took place in 2018 and that are stated in the Program of the Government adopted in 2018. They are also part of the roadmap that Nikol Pashinyan presented in November 2020. Holding elections with an amended Electoral Code is the only way to solve the political crisis,” Ioannisyan stated.

Touching upon the comment made by the leader of the opposition Bright Armenia Party that amendments to the Electoral Code will entail a problem with legitimacy, Ioannisyan said the following: “I don’t really understand the political party’s stance since it is essentially different from the stance it had in 2018. In 2018, leader of the political party Edmon Marukyan gladly stated that there is finally an opportunity to stop holding elections through the rating system. He needs to explain why the party has changed its position.”

Asked if the authorities will manage to make amendments to the Electoral Code before elections, Ioannisyan said there is no problem with time limits. Touching upon member of the political party Gevorg Gorgisyan’s statement on the rating procedure and asked if this means that criminals are elected to parliament, Iaonnisyan said his NGO has been talking about the proportional electoral system since 2016 and that political forces need to compete with each other in order for a political process to unfold. He also stated that, based on a survey, 74% of Armenian society supports amendments to the Electoral Code.