Immediately after the election, while announcing what it described as an absolute victory—despite a facial expression that bore little resemblance to triumph—the ruling majority proceeded to amend the Electoral Code. The aim is to restrict the voting rights of Armenian citizens residing outside the country. To prepare the ground for this, an advance information campaign was launched, suggesting that tens or even hundreds of thousands of people were travelling from Russia to Armenia in order to cast votes directed by the opposition. It later turned out that the number of people arriving from Russia was the same as in previous years, when no elections were held. Nevertheless, this information backdrop was needed in order to amend the Electoral Code after the vote.
Opposition figures have already stated that the purpose of limiting the electorate is to create more convenient conditions for holding a referendum on constitutional amendments, in order to fulfil Azerbaijan’s demand to change the Constitution and remove the reference to the Declaration of Independence. It is clear that for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who did not even secure 50 percent in the parliamentary elections, it will be significantly more difficult to reach the higher threshold required for referendums. Behind this lies not only Azerbaijan’s demand, but also pressure from international actors who, presumably in expectation of this condition being met, have openly supported Pashinyan—through political backing, financial assistance, and even rapid response teams.
All this aside, the initiative also appears to have another, deeper underlying motive that is rarely discussed but deserves attention. By restricting the voting rights of Armenian citizens living abroad, the Armenian authorities are cutting yet another thread in the organic connection between Armenia and the Armenian diaspora. This is taking place within the broader context of a policy aimed at compressing Armenia into the framework of a lapel pin.
The Armenian diaspora has always been, and continues to be, a source of concern for Azerbaijan and Turkey. Because Armenia is one kind of state when it maintains an organic relationship with its diaspora, and quite another when that link is absent. More precisely, without it, Armenia effectively becomes nothing more than a lapel pin.
Read also
Hakob BADALYAN
