Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor

After elections of 5 December 2021, for almost two years Vanadzor community has not had a community head despite having elected the Council of Elders. The reason is that in the context of examination of their controversial complaint, as a means of securing the claim, the Bright Armenia party demanded from the Court to prohibit convening a session to choose a community head for Vanadzor Council of Elders, which was done by the Administrative Court ruling. 

  On 1 September 2023, RA Court of Cassation rejected the complaint of Bright Armenia party, which challenged rejection of the party’s claim on results of Vanadzor Council of Elders elections.

As a result of the Court of Cassation rejecting the complaint, results of elections of 5 December 2021 finally and irrevocably entered into force.

This means that temporary community head of Vanadzor community Arkadi Peleshyan was supposed to invite a session of Council of Elders with the purpose of choosing a community head.

While the Court of Cassation ruling was sent to the parties on 6 September 2023, the Council of Elders session was not convened, a community head was not chosen, and the Government did not prematurely terminate Council of Elders powers and did not schedule new snap elections. 

Taking the aforementioned into account, it should be recorded that we are witnessing not solely unawareness, but rather, obvious, coordinated inactivity, as a result of which local governance in Vanadzor community is actually captured, and the judiciary is directly complicit in that.

Click to read the full statement of Անկախ դիտորդ - Independent Observer.