Armenian electoral body reduces number of constituencies

Armenian electoral body reduces number of constituencies

Arminfo
6 Jul 05

YEREVAN

The number of the electoral constituencies in the country has been
reduced from 65 to 41 in line with the amendments to the Armenian
Electoral Code. The Armenian Central Electoral Commission [CEC]
approved this decision today.

Under the decision, the number of the constituencies in Yerevan was
reduced from 18 to 13. The number of the constituencies decreased by
four in Ararat and Armavir Regions and by two in Aragatsotn
Region. The commission tried not to change the borders of the
constituencies while “expanding” them, the deputy chairman of the CEC,
Gamlet Abramyan, has said. [Passage omitted: geographical details of
the constituencies]

Today’s session of the CEC sparked off a fierce discussion provoked by
Feliks Khachatryan, a representative of the opposition Justice bloc in
the commission.

He said that for some reasons, the division into the constituencies
had been carried out by the chairman of the CEC, Garegin Azaryan, and
his deputy, Gamlet Abramyan, in secret from the other members of the
commission. The division was carried out unequally and illogically,
“for the purpose of securing unhampered election of a certain
candidate, and, as a result, not only territories of one region, but
also houses on the same side of a street in Yerevan were included into
various constituencies “, he added.

[Passage omitted: details of discussion]