Armenia passes law restricting voting rights for citizens living abroad
Armenia’s parliament has approved a new law tightening voting eligibility for citizens living abroad, following reports that Russia attempted to influence last month’s parliamentary election by mobilising Armenian nationals residing in Russia.
The legislation, passed on Friday, introduces stricter residency requirements for citizens seeking to vote in national elections.
Armenia, a landlocked former Soviet republic with a population of about three million, has a large diaspora, including more than two million Armenians living and working in Russia, according to Russian estimates.
The new measure comes shortly after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party secured victory in the June 7 parliamentary election with 49.8 per cent of the vote.
Lawmakers from the ruling party proposed the bill after the election, arguing that voting should be limited to citizens who have maintained a close connection with the country and are familiar with its current challenges.
The legislation follows reports by Reuters in May that Russia had stepped up covert efforts to weaken Pashinyan’s re-election campaign over concerns that his government was moving Armenia closer to Western allies and away from Moscow, its long-standing strategic partner.
According to the report, the alleged plan involved transporting tens of thousands of Armenian citizens living in Russia back to Armenia to influence the election outcome.
Moscow rejected the allegations, describing them as baseless and accusing election authorities of irregularities during the vote, which saw Pashinyan defeat an opposition bloc widely regarded as more favourable to Russia.
Under the new law, Armenian citizens will only be eligible to vote in regular elections if they have lived in the country for at least one year during the two years preceding the election, with eligibility assessed 48 days before polling day. For snap elections, the residency requirement will be calculated from 28 days before voting.
The legislation has drawn criticism from several Armenian civil society organisations, which argue that it is unconstitutional and infringes on the political rights of citizens living abroad.
In an open letter, the groups warned that the new rules could undermine democratic principles by restricting the voting rights of members of the Armenian diaspora.
Source: Reuters
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