Article 167 of the Election Code is an obstacle for the pre-term election

Head of the CEC (Central Election Commission) Garegin Azaryan has stated recently that they are not ready to hold a pre-term election, particularly reasoning the items of the Election Code that will come into effect from the beginning of the next year, that even the personal seals of the members of the election commission are not ready either, which should be used instead of signatures. However he said to Radio Liberty the other day, “If they come to an agreement and a pre-term election must be held, the CEC will find the respective solutions along with the NA.” Answering “Aravot’s” questions, in regard to such a change of emphases whether his attitude toward the pre-term election has changed, Garegin Azaryan said, “There is no change. I stick to the same idea that according to the Election Code in effect, it is not possible to hold a pre-term election. And what I said referred to the following – if the NA makes amendments to the Election Code, particularly to article 167 of it, where a set of measures are mentioned, the deadline of which is stipulated January 1 2012, and will adopt other definitions that the electoral system will have to and will be able to put into effect.”