Participation of Teachers and Schoolchildren at Pashinyan Rallies Sparks Uproar

YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—Scores of schoolteachers and students in Armenia’s central Aragatsotn province interrupted classes on Wednesday to attendPrime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s election campaign rallies in what vote-monitoring groups condemned as a gross violation of Armenian law.

One of those groups, Akanates (Eyewitness), said that the underage students were ordered by their teachers, school principals as well as local government officials to greet Pashinyan with flags and chants in Aparan, a town 55 kilometers north of Yerevan, and surrounding villages.

“Observers have personally witnessed how some school principals and teachers gave loud and strict instructions by phone, demanding the mandatory and organized participation of children,” it said in a statement.

“Observers have documented that the organizer of the recruitment of schoolchildren and teaching personnel was Edgar Parvanyan, the deputy governor of Aragatsotn. The latter actively coordinated the movement of people on site, personally welcomed the children, handed out propaganda flags to them, and gave clear instructions on who should be stationed where during the event,” added the statement.

Akanates said that these actions amount to abuse of power and warrant criminal proceedings. The group already accused the ruling Civil Contract party late last month of forcing schoolteachers and kindergarten workers to attend a pre-election concert in Gyumri. The alleged practice is a criminal offense under Armenian law.

The Independent Observer, a coalition of three other civic groups, likewise suggested that the teachers’ and students’ attendance of the ruling Civil Contact party’s campaign events in and around Aparan violated Armenia’s electoral and labor legislation. But it said it has no evidence yet that they did so against their will.

The Armenian Ministry of Education pledged to investigate their participation. For its part, the Central Election Commission warned that public sector employees are not allowed to use their “administrative resources” for political purposes. Neither the ministry nor the CEC mentioned Civil Contract in their responses to the uproar.

Meanwhile, Pashinyan assured reporters that “no violation can remain without consequences.”
“I have ordered an internal investigation, everything will be clarified,” he said on the campaign trail, answering a question from RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

Pashinyan and his party have for years been accused of illegally forcing public sector employees to attend their campaign rallies or other gatherings. They have always denied that.

In the run-up to the June 7 parliamentary elections, Armenian law-enforcement authorities have prosecuted only opposition figures on election-related charges. Billionaire Samvel Karapetyan’s Strong Armenia bloc, which is expected to be Civil Contract’s main election challenger, has been on the receiving end of such criminal proceedings. Dozens of its members and supporters have been detained in recent weeks on vote-buying charges strongly denied by Strong Armenia.