Electoral Reform Working Group Discusses Political Party Financing Issues

In the National Assembly of Armenia, the Electoral Reform Working Group held its latest meeting, where participants addressed issues regarding the control and sanctions related to political party financing.

According to a report by Armenpress, the meeting was attended by Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Lena Nazaryan, members of the National Assembly, Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission Tigran Mukuchyan, Chairman of the High-Ranking Officials Ethics Commission Armen Khudaverdyan, representatives of non-governmental organizations, and experts.

Deputy Speaker Lena Nazaryan presented international experiences in the application of sanctions. It was noted that out of 27 studied countries, only Switzerland does not impose sanctions, while the majority of others apply administrative fines.

Participants also discussed matters related to the body responsible for oversight, mentioning the names of the Central Electoral Commission, the Court of Appeals, and the Anti-Corruption Commission.

According to Tigran Mukuchyan, Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission, oversight must be carried out by the Commission during the pre-election period for several reasons. The most significant is the potential for issues arising regarding the interpretation of the law, declaring election results void, and problems related to gatherings during the pre-election period.

Members of parliament believe that the oversight function should be assigned to a neutral body, suggesting that this could be implemented by the Anti-Corruption Commission.

The coordinator of the Electoral Reform Working Group, Hamazasp Danielyan, indicated that they will soon address several separate problematic provisions as well.