Cash-for-votes claims rock Armenian opposition bloc

Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Committee said it has obtained evidence of alleged vote-buying linked to a representative of a political party, involving the distribution of money to citizens in exchange for support in elections to the National Assembly.

“Based on measures carried out by the Anti-Corruption Committee of the Republic of Armenia and the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia, within the framework of proceedings initiated at the Anti-Corruption Committee, factual data were obtained indicating that the head of the office of the ‘Strong Armenia’ party (Samvel Karapetyan) in the Gavar community, acting as part of a group with supporters of the same party, provided a number of voters with pre-election bribes (vote-buying) in various amounts on the condition of voting in favor of the said party in the National Assembly elections. In connection with the incident, within the framework of criminal proceedings initiated at the Anti-Corruption Committee of the Republic of Armenia, a number of individuals were detained, searches were conducted and other procedural actions were carried out,” the committee said in a statement.

According to preliminary information, the case concerns the alleged distribution of cash payments to voters.

Following the parliamentary elections held on June 7, the ruling Civil Contract party of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received 49.7% of the vote. The Strong Armenia bloc, led by Russian oligarch Samvel Karapetyan, secured 23.2%, while the Armenia bloc of former president Robert Kocharyan received 9.9%.

Speaking in parliament on June 16, Pashinyan described it as the “legitimate right of Armenia” to deprive opposition representatives who entered parliament of “opportunities for further political activity.”

By Tamilla Hasanova