The fraudsters’ groups have nothing to do in these elections. And if suddenly it turns out that they have something to do—in their view, comes the time for the fast, sharp, and effective action by the law enforcement agencies.

The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, noted the aforesaid at Thursday’s Cabinet meeting of the government.

“The Yerevan Council of Elders’ elections are the first such [large-]scale elections to take place during our government,” Pashinyan said. “We hope all of us realize that these elections need to be exceptional, in terms of legitimacy, transparency, and justice. The ensuring of freedom, democracy, and legitimacy of elections is a priority issue to us.”

The PM stressed that there shall be no vote buying, or anyone attempting to buy votes shall not go unpunished, in this election. 

“Any unlawful influence on the will of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia shall be ruled out, and ensuring this is the obligation of our government,” Nikol Pashinyan concluded, in particular. “I, of course, am convinced that this will be so.”