Citing a “disgraceful” election Armenia’s main opposition declared late on Monday that they refuse to pick their earned mandates in the City Council of Yerevan.

“The Armenian National Congress is not going to work with these authorities,” A1 Plus quoted opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan as telling his numerous supporters at a rally in downtown Yerevan.

The official vote results for the May 31 polls announced by the Central Election Commission on Monday showed the Congress getting 17.4 percent of the vote in an election swept by the ruling Republican Party with nearly 48 percent of the vote. Another governing coalition member party, Prosperous Armenia, finished a distant second with 22.7 percent.

To ArmeniaNow’s request to explain the situation with what will happen in the City Council if the opposition’s decision stands, Hrair Tovmasyan, co-author of the law on Yerevan elections, said the vacated seats would not be filled by the parties standing next, namely Orinats Yerkir or Dashnaktsutyun, both of which failed to overcome the legal vote threshold of 7 percent required for political parties to enter the body.

“If this is the case, then instead of 65 members, in the next four years the City Council will work with only 52,” Tovmasyan explained. “But had it been a critical majority of seats, the elections would be considered invalid.”