The Chamber of Local Authorities of the Congress debated on Thursday 20 October 2016 an Information Report on the assessment of local by-elections held on 18 September 2016 in Armenia. The Chamber of Local Authorities of the Congress debated on Thursday 20 October 2016 an Information Report on the assessment of local by-elections held on 18 September 2016 in Armenia. 

The Chamber of Local Authorities of the Congress debated on Thursday 20 October 2016 an Information Report on the assessment of local by-elections held on 18 September 2016 in Armenia. This vote was the first one organised after the July 2016 hostage crises at a police station in Yerevan and after the Prime Minister resigned in early September. Despite the adoption of a new Electoral Code in 2016 further to the 2015 Constitutional reform in Armenia, the local by-elections held on 18 September 2016 were governed by the 2011 Electoral Code. This has led to some uncertainties with regard to the legal framework and “had inevitable repercussions related to the general atmosphere in which these elections took place”, stated the Congress’ Rapporteur Liisa Ansala (Finland, ILDG). In general, the teams deployed on Election Day found that the elections were technically well-prepared and overall in line with international standards. At the same time, Mrs Ansala underlined a very low level of political competition for these elections with many candidates withdrawing in the course of the campaign. “As a consequence, there was low public interest”, the Rapporteur regretted.