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MP Edmon Marukyan from the opposition Bright Armenia Party predicts snap elections in Armenia in no later than 6 months, but says his prediction may fall short.

“In June or July we will discuss why it failed to happen. Politicians predict one thing, and then, if it does not happen, they explain why it didn’t happen,” Marukyan told a briefing at the parliament.

He stressed the political history of Armenia saw only one case when the opposition demand was fulfilled – the resignation Serzh Sargsyan in 2018.

The opposition MP said that he has no information on any discussions with the authorities regarding the conduct of new elections.

“If we are talking about the adoption of a new Electoral Code, and then about the conduct of elections, naturally, there should be discussions, because the rules of the game should be clear to all players,” Marukyan said.

According to the MP, if the new Electoral Code is adopted, the elections must be held in 6 months, as required by the Venice Commission, but if the law is not amended, elections may take place even tomorrow.

According to Marukyan, the pre-election rules include equal distribution of free airtime among all the parties and candidates and exclusion of attempts to silence one party by another in return for several million dollars.

Edmon Marukyan believes that only Bright Armenian can hold fair elections, because they do not trust anyone but ourselves.

He called for guarantees to ensure fair elections and rule out possible vote buying cases regardless of which political force organizes them.

In response to a question about the recognition of Artsakh’s independence, the deputy said that there are circumstances containing state secrets in the process, therefore he will refrain from making further comments, only adding that it has been a month since they began to work on the matter with the relevant bodies.