Armenia’s Free Democrats party, which contested the May 6 parliamentary elections on a unified proportional slate with the Heritage Party, today charged the government with exploiting the desperate socio-economic conditions of the people to rig the elections via financial and other administrative pressures.

“Sadly, these elections were not a true reflection of the free will of Armenia’s citizens and the true proportionality of political forces within the parliament,” the statement reads.

The party says that while the actual ballot process itself within the polling precincts might be regarded as a step in the right direction, as well as the more or less equal access to TV airtime during the campaign, what took place outside is another matter entirely.