It's Not Always Malice That Drives Parties to Violate Rules, Says Pashinyan

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan chaired a meeting of the Anti-Corruption Policy Council, attended by representatives from member organizations and invited participants. During the agenda, the Minister of Justice and a member of the Anti-Corruption Policy Council, Surbhi Galayan, presented a guide on restrictions for electoral campaigning.

Prime Minister Pashinyan emphasized that the focus should be on creating rules that assist political parties to operate within a legal framework rather than setting traps. “I believe what we are discussing pertains to the ethical framework and environment for political parties, and changes should be made to the 'Law on Political Parties' in the future. The law and statutes should stipulate that parties must have bodies or officials responsible for managing these affairs,” said Nikol Pashinyan.

The head of state added that in the course of developing anti-corruption policies, they have concluded that public administration should include officials who would be responsible for ethics and integrity. “Why are we doing this? Because, after all, everyone in public administration is busy with their own duties, and we tend to remember the rules of ethics only when violations occur. The same happens within political parties. My proposal is to consider making amendments to the law that would require a party’s charter to define a person or body responsible for the party's ethical standards, and in this regard, the Ministry of Justice and the Anti-Corruption Commission should also be involved,” the Prime Minister emphasized.

According to Nikol Pashinyan, their aim is not to have political parties continuously committing violations while bodies impose fines and initiate cases. “Our goal is to facilitate political parties to conduct their activities in as civilized a manner as possible, which does not always happen. I assure you that it is not always out of malice that political parties wish to breach rules,” remarked the Prime Minister of the country.