Pashinyan's Pre-Election Spending Was Vote-Buying, Now Comes the Bill
Civil Contract was using very systematic ways to do vote buying. They spent over a billion dollars, and now the bill is being passed on to ordinary consumers and taxpayers.
In the weeks leading up to the June 2026 parliamentary election, the Armenian government announced two major spending initiatives: a pension increase costing approximately 220 million dollars annually and a healthcare reform that funded surgeries for elderly citizens. Neither initiative was budgeted. When the opposition had called for these same measures in prior years, Pashinyan’s government claimed the budget could not support them. Yet suddenly, days before the election, both were implemented.
Asbed Bedrossian and Hovik Manucharyan characterize this as systematic vote-buying using state resources. The timing and lack of budgeting make the electoral intent transparent: show voters tangible benefits right before they vote. The total commitment came to roughly a billion dollars in new annual spending, unfunded from identifiable sources.
Immediately after winning the election, Pashinyan’s government moved to raise excise taxes on cigarettes, vaping products, fuel, and other goods. The stated rationale for tobacco taxes was healthcare and discouraging smoking, but Hovik rejects this as a cover story. He argues that if the government were sincere, it would also tax sugary drinks and processed foods, which cause as much cardiovascular disease and obesity as smoking. The real purpose, both hosts argue, is revenue generation to cover the unfunded spending commitments. While these new taxes may yield 100 to 200 million dollars in additional revenue, they fall far short of the billion-dollar bill now due. Armenia, already carrying significant debt, has locked itself into massive new annual commitments with no clear funding mechanism.
Transcript
Asbed: to do vote buying. Asbed: They spent over a billion dollars of, Asbed: I hesitate to say taxpayer money because I'm not sure that money was funded. Asbed: I didn't see it anywhere in the budget to start some of the projects, Asbed: but I want you to tell us some of the projects that they initiated to make sure Asbed: that people felt really, Asbed: really good about the ruling party in the last month. Hovik: Yeah, Hovik: it's actually, Hovik: I mean, Hovik: the taxpayer is on the hook for it, Hovik: regardless of where they found the money. Hovik: Yeah, that's right. Hovik: But yes, Hovik: so out of budget, Hovik: like every time over the last few years, Hovik: the opposition wanted to increase pensions, Hovik: and the government said, Hovik: we don't have the budget for it, Hovik: even as late as last December, Hovik: I believe. Hovik: Then suddenly, Hovik: in January, Hovik: they said, Hovik: oh, Hovik: we're going to increase pensions, Hovik: even though it's not budgeted, Hovik: but it's a $220 million, Hovik: I believe, Hovik: price tag, Hovik: and it's every year. Hovik: And suddenly they found money from somewhere, Hovik: maybe through international loans, Hovik: to implement this. Hovik: But even worse, last minute they implemented this health reform, which benefits Hovik: Yeah, Hovik: it gives benefits to elderly people who need surgeries, Hovik: like they're going to fund cataract surgeries and everything. Hovik: So, but those are things that were on the opposition agenda all this time. Hovik: So just last minute they implemented, Hovik: they ran through all these changes that they've been promising it for seven years,