Armenian Constitutional Court Ruling Endorses Sargsyan Presidency

The BBC reports that last night the constitutional court rejected an appeal by opposition candidate Levon Ter-Petrossian that the amount of irregularities and illegalities registered in the 19 February presidential election in Armenia resulted in a first round win for the prime minister, Serge Sargsyan. Incidentally, one international organization head working in the area of democracy encountered 15 minutes after the decision was made says he believes that Ter-Petrossian might now be interested in making a deal with the authorities, but that remains to be seen.

After all the belligerence from Ter-Petrossian, it seems hard to believe, but the constitutional court ruling leaves few avenues open to the radical opposition other than revolution and direct confrontation with the authorities on the streets. Given how unstable that would leave Armenia, it can only be hoped that negotiations, whether public or private, come to fruition. Certainly, after last week’s riots as well as the 2005 constitutional amendments, the presidency will not be as strong as it was so it can now only be hoped that this leads to more checks and balances in the system.

The court accepted opposition claims there were some violations but said this could not call into question the entire poll.

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Official election results in Armenia gave Serzh Sarkisian 53% of the vote, and the main opposition candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian 21.5%.

Mr Ter-Petrosian had alleged there was widespread fraud at the poll, but his legal appeal was rejected.

The outgoing President, Robert Kocharian, has warned that the authorities will not tolerate any more mass demonstrations even after the state of emergency is over.