The punishment previously envisaged for giving and receiving election bribes will be tightened, National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan said in a Facebook video message.

He announced that a new legislative initiative had been introduced by himself and lawmakers Arusyak Julhakyan, Alkhas Ghazaryan and Vahagn Aleksanyan.

“The current punishment of up to eight years for giving election bribes will be replaced with imprisonment of up to 10 years, while for receiving bribes the sentence will increase from up to seven years to up to nine years.

Now go and think whether it is worth spending a very long time in a correctional labor colony and getting a criminal record in exchange for one hundred or two hundred thousand drams, a television set, trousers or kebab, while also putting our statehood, our independence and our ability to make sovereign decisions at risk. And honestly, I do not envy those people who have already become involved in this,” the parliament speaker said.

The election campaign that began on May 8 will continue until June 5. June 6 will be a day of silence, while elections will be held on June 7.