Teachers and students of a rural school are involved in campaigning for Armenia's ruling party.

Teachers from the Byurakan village school wore ruling party T-shirts to a campaign event held by the governor of the Aragatsotn region. Children also attended the rally. The acting principal of the school called the teachers' participation in the rally "an expression of gratitude" for not having to pay for their jobs.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," the principal of the Byurakan village school explained that inviting teachers to a meeting with a representative of the ruling party of Armenia was not a use of administrative resources, but rather a notification of the opportunity to personally ask questions to the governor.

The staff of the school in the village of Byurakan in the Aragatsotn region, as well as children wearing T-shirts with the symbols of the ruling Civil Contract party, are participating in the pre-election campaign, News.Am reports.

Acting director of the Hovhannes Tumanyan Secondary School, Varsenik Vardanyan, reported that the school staff came to the campaigning event conducted by the governor of the Aragatsotn region and his supporters. She stated that she had invited the school's teachers to ask the governor their questions and assured that there were no teachers wearing T-shirts with the ruling Civil Contract party's logo among the participants.

However, one of the rally participants, wearing a ruling party T-shirt, identified herself as Anna Karapetyan, a teacher at Hovhannes Tumanyan Secondary School. She assured that no one had been forced to attend the campaign rally.

After seeing footage of the conversation with Karapetyan, Vardanyan, in a raised voice, stated that 10-15 teachers, including herself, were present at the campaign rally, having taken their jobs without paying anyone any money. "In the past, teachers and principals paid thousands of dollars to work at the school. Today, these people came to thank the authorities. I've been working at the school for 36 years, which was previously run by criminal elements," she noted.

As a reminder, parliamentary elections in Armenia are scheduled for June 7. Seventeen parties and two blocs have been admitted. The Strong Armenia bloc of businessman Samvel Karapetyan, the Armenia bloc of former President Robert Kocharyan, and the Prosperous Armenia party of oligarch Gagik Tsarukyan are the most pro-Russian participants in the upcoming elections. According to analysts, the parties of Samval Karapetyan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and Robert Kocharyan will be key competitors in the elections.

The four main political forces participating in the parliamentary elections made promises to reduce poverty, create new jobs, and increase pensions and GDP. Analysts say most of these promises are simply populism.

The "second league" parties, which have fewer supporters than the ruling party's main opponents, announced in their election platforms an end to pressure on the church, reform of the judicial system, and strengthening of the country's security, including a revision of the peace agreement with Baku. Political scientists predict that not all of these four parties will be able to enter parliament.

The June elections will effectively be a referendum on the future of Nikol Pashinyan's government and Armenia's foreign policy course. At stake is the current team's retention of power or its transfer to the opposition, which promises to reconsider key decisions of recent years, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "2026 Elections to the National Assembly (Parliament) of Armenia".