On 7 June, the electoral campaign for the snap parliamentary elections officially launched in Armenia and will last until 18 June. 

“Today the campaign for the snap parliamentary elections officially launched in Armenia. These elections are taking place in wholly difficult and crisis conditions, our people and state are passing through difficult trials. I call on all parties and alliances who participate in the elections to be maximally restrained, respect the voter and the opponent, demonstrate prudence and tolerance, and hold the election process in an atmosphere of civilised political culture. I propose all the political forces not to deepen the crisis with their activity, behaviour and speech, do not cross the boundaries of morality, do not use dishonest propaganda technologies and remain committed to our national values and collective goal,” stated the country’s President Armen Sarkissian on the occasion.

The ruling Civil Contract party led by caretaker Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan started its campaign in Armavir province. In his speech, Pashinyan addressed the issues of economy, education, and military reforms. “We must receive the power from you on replacing the velvet mandate with a steel mandate and correct the spine of our country with that steel mandate,” Pashinyan stated.

In terms of economy, he emphasised that the country was prospering during his rule. “We have made a decision to reform the system of income tax and profit tax. We have levelled the three-level income tax rate, made a uniform 23%, and, according to the decision, by 2023 we will have 20% of the income tax,” Pashinyan said. According to him, in comparison with 2018, the country has registered 85 thousand more jobs. “After this decision, we set absolute historical records in Armenia for the number of jobs registered in 2018, 2019, 2020, and in September, before the war, it was an absolute record for all times,” he added. He also added that Armenia became a paradise for businesses, with no monopolies and no coercion by the State Revenue Committee. 

In terms of education, Pashinyan promised that at least 300 kindergartens and 300 schools would be built in Armenia in the next five years. When it comes to military issues, Pashinyan emphasised the need to create a professional army in the country. He also said that 75-80% of the acquired weapons for the army took place during his rule over the country. “Why did you spend money on soldiers’ food?" But when people were coming to, entering military units, they were throwing candy, the soldiers, being scratched, were running after those candies. You should have shot yourself from that,” he stated, referring to the country’s former authorities and his political rivals. “You destroyed the state. We have inherited a lying state where there is a casing and there is no content because all civil servants were going to work in the morning not to serve the people, but to snatch. The entire state system—from the army to the courts—was ‘soaked’ in corruption; you know that,” he added.

The “Armenia” alliance led by Robert Kocharyan started its campaign in Syunik province. Prior to the start of the campaign, Kocharyan’s bloc opened about 800 campaign offices across the country. In his speech, Kocharyan addressed a variety of issues, including the transport corridor through Syunik, Nagorno-Karabakh, economic issues, and migration from the country, as well as security issues. 

“We support the reopening of transport communications in the region. It would not be normal if we say that we are against the operation of the railway. But I am very worried about the word "corridor," since I know what Azerbaijan understands by "corridor" and I know what Turkey understands by it," Kocharyan said. According to him, if Azerbaijan and Turkey talk about a corridor only in relation to the territory of Armenia, this is a signal that it is necessary to stop and understand what is meant by the word "corridor." He stressed that their alliance is in favour of the roads being open and everyone using them, "but nothing more.” "Because more will be problematic, since Turkey's long-term goals are slightly different: first they say "corridor," then they want a little more, then again a little more, then we will have serious security problems for the residents of this region," Kocharyan said.

In relation to Nagorno-Karabakh, Kocharyan stated that during his presidency everything was done to build an “asymmetric confederation” with the de facto authorities in Karabakh and if he would have stayed in power the negotiations with Azerbaijan on the territory would have been dragged for 30 more years. “The right negotiations were so that they would not lose hope because then there would not have been any other way but war. What did the current [Armenian] authorities do? They made the negotiations reach a deadlock. They were saying one thing, tomorrow—another. They were lying to everyone. They created a situation that neither Azerbaijan nor the mediators understood what they wanted. Then they announced that “Karabakh is Armenia—period!” Then they said that they were not interested in the negotiations, they had decided everything, they were only interested in security; moreover, the serving [de facto] President of Karabakh [Arayik Harutunyan] also was saying that; populist statements. They started talking about big projects, roads, and housing in the south. They did the Karabakh presidential inauguration in Shusha; this is as sensitive a topic for them [Azerbaijan] as it is for us. They were putting pressure on their national dignity. They did everything to make war inevitable, and they did everything to lose the war,” Kocharyan underscored.

In terms of economic issues, Kocharyan emphasised that a deep decline in the economy, unemployment, sharp growth of poverty, and alarming growth of emigration is being recorded. “Eighty thousand people [left Armenia] in 4 months – this is the negative balance of our migration. There was no such index in Armenia for the past 25 years. This is an alarm that we should do something,” he stressed. He also addressed the issue of foreign economic zone with Iran in Syunik. “The Foreign Economic Zone is on paper, but there is no action. We need to think about what we can do to make sure things move forward. I still don’t fully understand why it didn’t work out. We need to explore this issue more in depth,” Kocharyan said.

When it comes to security issues, Kocharyan stressed that Armenia should restore its “partner status” and its army with the help of Russia, and present value as a partner. “We were treated as the country with the most efficient army in the region. We have lost this status, and they look at us differently, no matter how much we try not to see it. The authorities have artificially deprived us of this status. It is difficult to estimate the extent of the loss. It is not only about the loss of weapons and equipment, [worth] about 3 billion [US dollars], not to mention the loss of human life. The lost status is also estimated as about the same. If we do not restore our status, we will remain on our knees,” he added. Kocharyan also suggested that the officials in the country should be prosecuted for lying.

The “With Honor” alliance led by Arthur Vanetsyan started their campaign in the Tavush province. “We don’t want war and do not provoke war either, but we say that we won’t kneel in front of the enemy,” Vanetsyan stated. “If the enemy has come to kill us, we must kill him first. The behaviour of Azeris, Turks after the recent war showed a simple thing – the 1915 Turkish “yataghan” has been replaced with 2020 Bayraktar,” he added. Vanetsyan’s coalition partner Serzh Sargsyan stated that if he was the Armenian Commander in Chief at this moment, he would have committed suicide. 

Prosperous Armenia party’s campaign started at Abovyan town in Kotayk province. The party’s leader Gagik Tsarukyan stressed the country’s security as the main issue, followed by education. “The people are tense, uneasy, and worried. And I was the first to say that the primary issue is the security of our country, our state, our people. Only Russia can ensure the security of our country. A new politico-military document must be signed with Russia so we can ensure the security of our country, and only then will we move on to other steps,” he stated. Tsarukyan promised that if he wins the elections he would make education more affordable and increase the quality of instruction, as well as providing the country’s youth with apartments without the need for down payments and interest rates.

The Bright Armenia party led by Edmon Marukyan started their campaign in Yerevan. Marukyan said the main message of their party is to form domestic political reconciliation, peace, solidarity, and unity in the country. “We will not stop, [we] will do everything for the national consent and unity to win, because if the unity doesn’t win, the enemy will defeat us. For us, 20 June is the line after which unity must be restored in the country,” he said. He also stressed that his party could win the elections with the aid of the 40% undecided voters in the country.