Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Davit Khudatian denied any wrongdoing in the local election campaign as election monitors and journalists continued to accuse the party of abusing its government levers in an effort to win the ballot.
The community comprised the historic town of Vagharshapat and several nearby villages until the Armenian government decided earlier this year to merge it with over a dozen other villages. Following the resignation of Vagharshapat’s pro-government Mayor Diana Gasparian, it also installed Civil Contract’s top election candidate, Argishti Mekhakian, as acting head of the enlarged community. The decisions were widely construed as an attempt to boost the party’s electoral chances.
Mekhakian found himself in hot water after attending last week a supposed charity event in one of the community villages, Doghs. Footage posted online showed the village administration chief, who is second on the Civil Contract list of candidates, handing out gifts to village children on behalf of a local benefactor. Mekhakian stood on stage during the event that also involved a free dinner party for villagers.
The vote-monitoring group Akanates (Witness) set up by Western-funded non-governmental organizations based in Yerevan condemned the event as a vote-buying operation and demanded a criminal investigation into it. Mekhakian denied any connection between the gift distribution and the upcoming election. Khudatian, who is reportedly involved in the election campaign, echoed the denial.
“There were no political calls or discussions of any election-related issues there,” the minister told journalists. “It was just a community event attended by the head of the community and the governor of the Armavir province.”
The Office of the Prosecutor-General has still not responded to a “crime report” filed by Akanates. Armenian law-enforcement authorities are not known to have filed vote-buying charges against any Civil Contract candidates during Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s rule. They have prosecuted many opposition candidates instead.
On Monday, Akanates seized upon Mekhakian’s revelation that in the last two months Pashinian’s government has spent an additional 500 million drams ($1.3 million) on infrastructure upgrades in the community. The group said the urgent funding was clearly aimed at illegally influencing the election outcome.
Armenian law prohibits election candidates from distributing any material aid or services to voters. It also makes it a crime for local or central government officials to participate in election campaigns. Civil Contract was accused of violating this ban as well when several employees of Vagharshapat’s municipal administration were caught on camera last week posting the party’s campaign billboards and posters in the city.
Opposition groups challenging Pashinian’s party have also accused Mekhakian of abusing his government levers for electoral purposes. The mayor has denied those claims, saying that he is simply performing his duties.