The Constitutional Court of Armenia on Saturday rejected an appeal that challenged the results of the country’s parliamentary elections.
The court’s decision upheld the party of acting prime minister Nikol Pashinyan’s victory in the vote last month.
The election on June 20 provided Pahinyan’s party with 71 parliamentary seats, while the group led by former President Robert Kocharyan won 29 seats. Another group led by another former president, Serge Sarkisian, won seven seats.
These groups and two smaller parties appealed the results of the election, arguing before the Constitutional Court that they should be declared invalid due to suspected voting violations. Representatives of the losing faction claimed on Saturday that the court ruled under political pressure.
After months of protests, Pashinyan called for early elections His resignation Thanks to the peace agreement signed in November, he ended six weeks of fighting with Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
According to the peace agreement, Azerbaijan regained control of most areas Nagorno-Karabakh And the Armenian army controlled the surrounding area for more than a quarter of a century. Protesters in Armenia condemned the deal as a betrayal of national interests.
Pashinyan resigned as prime minister in accordance with the law to hold elections, but still served as the acting leader of the country. Once the newly elected parliament convenes a meeting, he will be formally appointed to the post.
