‘Sensational but false’: scrutiny of election promises made by some political forces in Armenia
False election promises in Armenia
Only a few days remain before Armenia’s parliamentary elections. Eighteen political parties are actively campaigning. In particular, they are travelling across the regions, meeting voters and making numerous promises.
Experts from the analytical centre Armenian Council monitored and analysed these promises. After completing their review, they said some of them were “not only unrealistic, but often had no connection to reality”.
Among the promises, analysts highlighted a sensational statement by the opposition Strong Armenia party. Its leader is Russian businessman and dollar billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, who is currently under house arrest over calls to seize power.
In an address to voters, Karapetyan promised that, if he came to power, he would adopt what he described as the country’s most important law within a week. He said it would be called the “Safarov Prevention Law”. According to the businessman, the legislation would ban Azerbaijanis from “buying our land, our homes or receiving our land as gifts”.
Experts from the Armenian Council warn that this is a false claim. They stress that the main purpose of the “sensational” statement is to attract public attention.
“Legislation already exists and remains in force prohibiting foreign citizens from acquiring land ownership rights,” the analysts remind readers.
In their view, such false promises rely on voters being poorly informed.
However, the experts themselves believe Armenian citizens are sufficiently informed. They say sociological research supports this conclusion. Moreover, political analysts at the centre expect the upcoming elections to confirm their assessment.
JAMnews is publishing excerpts from the Armenian Council article, together with explanations of which participants in the election campaign made the false promises mentioned in the analysis.
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A law “preventing” Azerbaijanis from living in Armenia
“The main contender for the leading opposition positions in the parliamentary elections, a force that follows Russian narratives and policies, announced what it described as a ‘historic’ decision.
According to their false claim, if they come to power, they will ban foreign citizens from acquiring land ownership rights. To achieve this, they say they will adopt a law that will ‘prevent Azerbaijanis from settling in Armenia’.
However, Article 60, Paragraph 6 of Armenia’s Constitution already states: ‘Foreign citizens and stateless persons do not enjoy the right to own land, except in cases prescribed by law.’
In turn, Article 4, Paragraph 3 of Armenia’s Land Code states:
‘Foreign citizens and stateless persons cannot hold ownership rights to land. They may only use land. The only exception applies to people holding special residency status in Armenia.’
In essence, legislation already exists and remains in force prohibiting foreigners from acquiring land ownership rights.”
Why does Karapetyan propose a “Safarov Prevention Law” and who is Safarov?
In 2004, Azerbaijani army officer Ramil Safarov killed Armenian lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan with an axe while he slept in Budapest.
Both men had travelled to Hungary to attend a three-month English-language programme organised by North Atlantic Treaty Organization under the Partnership for Peace initiative.
A court sentenced Safarov to life imprisonment. Later, on 31 August 2012, Hungary extradited him to Azerbaijan.
Immediately after his return, President Ilham Aliyev pardoned Safarov. Authorities also promoted him to the rank of major and granted him an apartment.
In response to Safarov’s extradition, Armenia suspended diplomatic relations with Hungary the same day.
The two countries restored relations only ten years later, in 2022. One factor behind that decision was the return of five Armenian prisoners from Azerbaijan in late December 2021 through Hungarian mediation
Groundless claims about the “return” of Azerbaijanis
“In another case, a promise to create 300,000 jobs, despite lacking serious foundations, is accompanied by false and baseless warnings about the resettlement of 300,000 Azerbaijanis in Armenia.
The political strategists behind this force likely decided to combine these two figures in the hope of creating a cumulative effect.”
The Strong Armenia party promises to create 300,000 jobs. At the same time, it actively promotes claims about the “return of 300,000 Azerbaijanis to Armenia”.
Party leader Samvel Karapetyan says Armenia’s main task is to stop this process. He claims that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev planned it together.
Karapetyan also warns that, if Azerbaijanis resettle in Armenia, “his team’s economic programmes will become impossible to implement”. He argues that “the jobs will go to Azerbaijanis”.
Armenian authorities have repeatedly rejected opposition claims about the “return of Azerbaijanis”.
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said only a day earlier that the claim was “a product of a sick imagination”.
Today, Nikol Pashinyan stated that “the oligarch should stand trial” for actions directed against Armenia’s state interests.
The prime minister considers attempts to introduce the non-existent issue of resettling 300,000 Azerbaijanis into Armenia’s domestic political agenda to be contrary to the country’s interests.
Lukashenko as a “symbol of marginalisation” and Belarusian guarantees
“The leader of another political force promises to find ‘guarantors’ who ‘will come and establish lasting peace’.
Interestingly, representatives of this force do not even hide the fact that, in their view, the list of guarantors could include Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, whom they describe as a symbol of marginalisation in the civilised world.
Nor do these newly emerged ‘experts in geopolitical guarantees’ appear concerned with how a president who turned his country into a Russian outpost intends to guarantee anything anywhere.”
Prosperous Armenia leader and businessman Gagik Tsarukyan has repeatedly promoted the idea of a “guaranteed peace”.
Moreover, he believes Armenia needs several guarantors in the peace process with Azerbaijan.
In one of his Facebook posts, Tsarukyan openly named possible guarantors. In his opinion, they could include Pakistan, Russia and Belarus:
“French President Emmanuel Macron called Lukashenko yesterday after a long pause to discuss improving relations and other important issues. When I say that we can and should work with Belarus and gain serious benefits, the authorities call me an oligarch and a Belarusian spy.”
Contradictory promises: lower taxes and higher pensions
“One political force promises to ‘cut taxes’ while simultaneously ‘raising pensions’.
Anyone with a basic understanding of economics and at least some familiarity with political science theories can see that these two actions cannot happen at the same time.”
Prosperous Armenia promises citizens “decent pensions and a reasonable tax policy”.
According to its election programme, the party plans to:
- cut property tax by half.
- align the minimum pension with the minimum consumer basket;
- increase and index pensions annually in line with inflation;
- create 10 tax-free industrial zones across Armenia’s 10 regions;
- exempt microbusinesses with annual turnover of up to 60 million drams ($164,000) from turnover tax;
False election promises in Armenia
