Armenian PM: Main task is to eliminate criminal-oligarchic system

The Armenian government’s primary task over the next five years has been and will continue to be the public demand to fully eradicate the criminal-oligarchic system in the Republic of Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has stated.

During a press conference, the PM said his words and plans have not changed, Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenian media.

Referring to the leader of the Strong Armenia bloc Samvel Karapetyan, the leader of the Armenia bloc, Robert Kocharyan, and the leader of the Prosperous Armenia party, Gagik Tsarukyan, he stressed that these people must be held accountable in accordance with the law.

“They must bear criminal responsibility in the relevant cases, and the expropriation of the criminal oligarchy must proceed at a very high pace and quickly — through mechanisms for confiscating illegally acquired property, through criminal cases, through the system for protecting state interests and community interests,” he noted.

According to him, ultimately, these political forces are representatives of the criminal-oligarchic system, and they should not have a place to operate in Armenia.

“The people of the Republic of Armenia have, with their vote, stood up for the state, independence, the future, peace, and the Republic of Armenia, and I must note that the three-headed party of war has been defeated,” Pashinyan added.

The Central Election Commission is publishing preliminary results of the parliamentary elections in Armenia, according to which Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party received 49.81% (727,160 votes), enough to form a government on its own.

Results showed that several political forces Pashinyan had strongly criticised during the campaign also passed the electoral threshold.

The Strong Armenia bloc won 23.29% (340,062 votes), followed by the Armenia bloc with 9.94% (145,097 votes) and the Prosperous Armenia party with 4% (58,368 votes).

A total of 1,476,916 people voted.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov