Pashinyan vows intensified crackdown on electoral bribery

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said that combating electoral bribery must continue and that “uprooting” those involved from political life is becoming a priority.

Speaking in parliament during question time, Pashinyan said it was obvious that large-scale electoral bribes had been distributed during the June 7 parliamentary elections. However, he said the people had overcome this.

“It is obvious that large-scale vote-buying took place, and it is also obvious that our state has been able to fight against it to this extent. For the first time, the people have defeated vote-buying on this scale,” Pashinyan said.

This, he said, demonstrates the institutional maturity of the state on the one hand, and on the other hand indicates that work in this direction must continue.

The prime minister stressed that “uprooting” those involved in vote-buying from Armenia’s political life is becoming a priority.

“Uprooting those distributing vote-buying from Armenia’s political life is becoming a priority on the agenda as a result of this fact. They must be uprooted by all possible means, and we will go down that path,” he said.

Pashinyan also said that his rhetoric on fighting vote-buying during the election campaign received support from Armenian citizens.

He also addressed the work of the criminal justice system in vote-buying cases, noting that according to his review of statistics, none of the individuals charged in such cases since 2021 are currently in prison.

“This is the most important question that our criminal justice system must answer,” Pashinyan said.