Residents of the village of Vanand, Armavir Marz, boasted that they weren’t planning to take any election bribes even though they surely would be offered.

They told me that their votes couldn’t be bought at any price since their future and that of their children was at stake.

Village resident Hmayak Harutyunyan told me that he’s never accepted an election bribe in his life but that the government has put people in a situation where they could really use the extra money.

Harutyunyan confessed that he’s even considering pocketing a bribe this time around.

When I visited Vanand, many people shied away from the camera, saying that it could create problems for them later on.

All the people I talked to stated that they didn’t believe the government’s promises to hold free and fair elections in May.

Harutyunyan, first man in the video, refers to the Hovhannes Tumanyan fable where in order to slay the dragon, one must first cut off its tail. The analogy is clear.

He goes on to say that while he’s never “sold his conscience” by taking a bribe, he now hates himself for being so honest because he now has no alternative.

Senior citizen Grisha Smbatyan, a smoker, claimed that even though he didn’t have enough money for a pack of cigarettes, he’d refuse a $2,000 bribe.