Congress-HZhK: HHK has started 'an attack’ on civil society
The alliance set up by the opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) and its ally People’s Party of Armenia (HZhK) has made a statement commenting on the move of directors of schools and kindergartens who have sued the Union of Informed Citizens NGO for defamation. In its March 25 statement, the alliance referred to the scandalous revelations made by the Union of Informed Citizens NGO which showed school principals in Armenia campaigning for the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) ahead of the April 2 parliamentary elections. In particular, the alliance said that the authorities were abusing their administrative resources and restricting freedom of expression of voters by making directors of more than one hundred schools and kindergartens draw up lists of parents, teachers and staff members who would vote for the HHK in the April 2 polls. The Congress-HZhK alliance also said that the recordings provided by the UIC and the material published in the press should be viewed as a report about a crime and the Central Electoral Commission was to be the first to respond to it. “Of course, this did not happen. In an effort to ensure its reproduction through election fraud and voting irregularities, the HHK has now started ‘an attack’ on civil society. By the order of the authorities, the directors of some 30 schools and kindergartens have filed a lawsuit against the Union of Informed Citizens and its President Daniel Ioannisyan. The Congress-HZhK alliance expresses its support for the NGO and Daniel Ioannisyan. At the same time, the alliance views this undignified and cowardly move of the authorities as an attempt to hinder the revelation of a real crime,” the alliance said today.
