CC urged to revisit Safaryan's participation

PanARMENIAN.Net - Following a question from Constitutional Court Judge Seda Safaryan, the atmosphere in the courtroom became tense. Representatives of the Strong Armenia and Armenia alliances, along with the Prosperous Armenia Party, again proposed that the court consider whether Safaryan should be disqualified from participating in the proceedings, Sputnik Armenia reported.

Referring to claims in the election challengers' petitions about the direct influence of Western officials on the elections, Safaryan asked whether the Russian president's statements, repeated criticism of the Armenian authorities by various Russian officials, support expressed for other political forces, and restrictions imposed on exporters could also have influenced the election.

"Your Honour, a political statement is being made from the bench. I ask that it be stopped," Aram Orbelyan, representing the Prosperous Armenia Party, said as he approached the microphone without permission.

Constitutional Court President Arman Dilanyan issued Orbelyan an official warning.

"Is this a political question or a legal one? The fact that such a question is being asked not within the framework of the application but rather as a kind of counterargument or counterexample raises concerns about bias and impartiality," Aram Vardevanyan, representing the Strong Armenia alliance, said in response to Safaryan's remarks.

Later, commenting on Safaryan's questions, Vardevanyan said the parties had already stated during the hearing that the judges should once again examine the issue of her ability to participate in the case, http://Factor.am reported.

He added that, in his opinion, the substance of the question reflected the political rhetoric of one of the parties that had applied to the Constitutional Court. Asked to clarify which political force he meant, Vardevanyan replied briefly: "I'm sure you can guess."

Responding to a question about whether the court would consider the issue of the judge's participation, he said a new circumstance had emerged during the hearing.

"I believe this was indeed a new circumstance that arose during the public hearing, in everyone's presence," Vardevanyan said.

According to him, it is difficult to reconcile such questions with the principle of an ex officio examination, since, in his view, that principle cannot be limited to citing press releases.

Safaryan had asked the opposition representatives: "I ask you to explain what impact the statements made before the elections—and even earlier—by the President of the Russian Federation and a number of senior Russian officials, who largely expressed support for these three political forces and did not conceal it, could have had on the election results and on the formation of the voters' free will, and why this factor is absent from the arguments in your petition."