RA Justice Minister addresses pre-election conduct and resource use

ArmInfo. All political forces in Armenia have the right to hold meetings with citizens. Among these forces is the ruling Civil Contract Party, which also holds such meetings, which are not election campaigning, according to  RA Minister of Justice Srbuhi Galyan.

She stated that the country's legislation clearly regulates issues  related to election campaigning, prohibiting even the use of charity  in the campaign. "In this regard, I appeal to all political forces  and individual citizens without exception to refrain from engaging in  charitable activities, which could include promises perceived as  violating the ban on charity," the Minister of Justice emphasized.  When asked  if the 10,000 AMD pension increase just three months  before the elections could be considered a violation of the ban on  charity, Srbuhi Galyan urged journalists to pay attention to  international standards. According to her, the issue of social  guarantees and pension increases was planned in the government's  program for 2021-2026. Furthermore, the Minister of Justice believes  that the allocation of public funds for social purposes cannot be  considered charity. According to the law, charity is defined as the  actions of individuals and legal entities, and expenditures by state  funds cannot be considered charity. The Minister also called on local  authorities to monitor the situation to ensure that public funds,  state property, or any other administrative resources are not used  during the election campaign.

Srbuhi Galyan also added that the situation in Iran should not affect  Armenia's domestic political agenda.