Akanates: In Artashat, a cleric publicly supported the Civil Contract party`s candidate for community head

ArmInfo. In Artashat, at the Church of St. John the Theologian, the spiritual pastor of the church, Priest Ter Yervand Babayan, addressed those present and touched upon the activities of the current mayor of Artashat, Karlen Mkrtchyan, who heads the Civil Contract party's electoral list in the local government elections. This was reported by the press service of the Akanates observation mission.

The mission noted that it finds the fact of such explicit praise for a candidate during a religious event during the pre-election period extremely disturbing. "What is particularly concerning is that the cleric expressed gratitude and blessing, emphasizing his status as the spiritual pastor of the city of Artashat. Thus, the positive assessment of the candidate's activities was not simply a personal opinion, but was effectively made on behalf of a religious organization. "Although the speech did not contain a direct call to vote for any candidate or political force, such statements during the pre-election period can be perceived as public support and are close in nature to election campaigning," Akanates noted.

The observation mission recalled that, according to Article 23 of Armenia's Electoral Code, religious organizations are prohibited from organizing or conducting election campaigning. It noted that the lack of a direct call to vote does not eliminate the problematic nature of such a speech. "The words and blessing of a cleric carry special authority for a portion of society. Therefore, public praise of a candidate several days before the election can influence voter attitudes, even if legally this speech does not qualify as direct election campaigning. Religious ceremonies should not be turned into a platform for raising the political profile of candidates. "The status and public influence of clergy should not be used to secure electoral advantages for any political force," Akanates stated.

In light of the above, the observation mission called on religious organizations and clergy to refrain from publicly praising candidates' activities during religious ceremonies and making statements suggesting political support during the pre-election period. "Electoral competition must be protected from possible influence on voters through religious authorities, and religious activity and party propaganda must be clearly separated," the mission concluded.

As a reminder, local government elections will be held in 46 communities in Armenia in the fall of 2026.