Naira Zohrabyan Demands OSCE/ODIHR to Comment on Nikol Pashinyan's Conduct

The independent deputy of the National Assembly of Armenia and representative of the Election Monitoring Committee, Naira Zohrabyan, has addressed a letter to Johan Murphy, the head of the OSCE/ODIHR observation mission. This was reported by the Election Monitoring Committee.

“Dear Mr. Murphy, the candidate for Prime Minister from the ruling Civil Contract party, acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, continues to use unacceptable rhetoric during his campaign—words of hatred and violence, calls to divide society and incite different groups against each other. Today, during a meeting with voters in the town of Abovyan in the Kotayk region, Nikol Pashinyan appeared with a hammer, stating that 'This is a very important symbol. Those who need to be removed—remove them, those who need to be smashed—smash them,'” the letter from Zohrabyan states.

“We demand that OSCE/ODIHR either respond and publicly condemn the behavior of Civil Contract party’s candidate for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, or provide factual substantiation that such behavior is acceptable and normal for European leaders—showing a hammer and threatening political opponents. It should be noted that up to this point, the OSCE/ODIHR has not responded in any way to the unacceptable rhetoric heard during the campaign and calls for violence against society,” the letter also notes.