Henceforth, before being approved as a candidate for Armenia’s National Assembly, individuals lacking a diploma from an approved Armenian school will now have to prove they “master” the Armenian language.

The directive was signed by Minister of Education and Science Levon Mkrtchyan, in accordance to Article 80, Part 3, of Armenia’s Electoral Code.

According to the new directive, those without a diploma will be tested to evaluate their “mastery” of Armenian. No specifics are cited in the government’s communique regarding the new ruling.

In Armenia, the longstanding joke is that many MPs are hard-pressed to speak literary eastern Armenian, and usually pepper their pronouncements with slang and foreign expressions.