Elections to the Parliament of the Republic are being held in Armenia. What you need to know

The June 7 parliamentary elections in Armenia have already become an example of the unprecedented use of administrative resources against the opposition and the characteristic "blindness" of the West, which supports the ruling party of the republic despite its obvious disregard for democratic values. What is the struggle for in the elections in Armenia, who is participating in it and why the United States, the European Union and Russia are so interested in them — in the Izvestia article.

Who participates in the elections

• Two blocs and 16 political parties are participating in the parliamentary elections in Armenia. The favorite is the ruling Civil Contract party, led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Its main opponents are the blocs of the opposition parties "Strong Armenia" and the "Armenia Alliance", as well as the "Prosperous Armenia" party.

• Civil Contract, a liberal pro—European party, has been leading in parliament since the Armenian "velvet revolution" of 2018, and was able to retain its constitutional majority after the 2021 elections. Promotes the ideas of Armenia's European integration and the achievement of peace with its neighbors, primarily with Azerbaijan. In case of victory, Pashinyan promises to amend the constitution, which Azerbaijan demands, and abandon territorial claims. According to the survey, as of June 5, 32.4% of respondents were ready to vote for the party.

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Meanwhile, the inter-party struggle is intensifying in the country, and the central streets are filled with protesters.

• The locomotive of the moderate-conservative bloc of the parties "Strong Armenia", "New Era" and "United Armenians" is businessman and opposition leader Samvel Karapetyan, who gained fame and support among voters after his speeches against the persecution of the Armenian church and his arrest on charges of calling for the seizure of power. Karapetyan is currently under house arrest, and his nephew Narek Karapetyan is the leader of the bloc. Strong Armenia promises to carry out economic reforms in the country and strengthen ties with Western countries, while maintaining relations with Russia and the EAEU. This block was supported by 16.4% of the participants in the survey.

• The center-left Alliance "Armenia" is headed by former President of the Republic Robert Kocharyan. The party opposes severing relations with Russia, which could cause huge damage to the Armenian economy. At the same time, Kocharyan promotes the idea of maintaining good relations with Western countries. In the June 5 poll, the alliance won 15.2% of the vote.

• Prosperous Armenia is a center-right liberal-conservative party founded by businessman Gagik Tsarukyan. The party stands for the preservation of traditional values and the preservation of the role of the church, the strengthening of allied and strategic ties with Russia, good-neighborly relations with the countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia, as well as economic partnership with the European Union. As of June 5, according to the survey, 8.8% of respondents supported the party.

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Features of the 2026 elections

• Since the Civil Contract is leading in the polls, the struggle is not so much for victory in the parliamentary elections as for full power and the ability to make decisions without coordination with other parties. The constitutional majority in the Armenian National Assembly is three-fifths of the total number of parliamentarians: with a minimum number of 101 people, 61 votes will be required to adopt amendments to the constitution.

• A simple majority (51 votes) is required for the election of the Prime Minister. If a majority is not formed as a result of the elections, a second round of elections will be required. If a coalition can be formed in parliament (at least 52% of the seats), it will be able to nominate a single candidate for the post of prime Minister. That is why it is so important for the ruling party to maintain a majority in parliament: otherwise, it will not be able to fulfill its election promises to Western allies and the Armenian people, because the opposition opposes the constitutional amendments dictated by Azerbaijan.

• The opposition accuses the ruling party of aggravating relations with Russia and the EAEU (we wrote about Armenia's losses in the event of withdrawal from the economic bloc here), as well as the fact that the country's laws are dictated by the historical opponents of Armenia — Azerbaijan and Turkey. The argument against the "Civil Contract" is the loss of Nagorno—Karabakh and the oppression of the Armenian Apostolic Church - Pashinyan insists on the reform of the church and the removal of Catholicos Garegin II, accusing him of having links with Russian intelligence services.

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• The ruling party responded with a large-scale sweep of the political field: opposition politicians were subjected to criminal prosecution. Yerevan also attempted to prevent voters arriving from Russia from exercising their right to vote by threatening to send them to military training camps. The Russian Security Council stated that the restriction of citizens' voting rights is unacceptable.

• The parliamentary elections in Armenia in 2026 are unprecedented in terms of violations. The detentions of oppositionists continued even on election day — more than 100 members of opposition parties were detained on June 7, searches and detentions of human rights defenders took place, and violations were reported at the polling stations themselves.

Expectations from the EU, the USA and Russia

• The European Union probably sees the elections in Armenia as another front in the fight against Russia. This version is put forward by the foreign press and human rights organizations, which draw attention to the fact that the EU ignores the obvious abuses during the election race in Armenia by the ruling party. At the same time, despite the law on EU integration adopted in Armenia in 2025, Armenia has not yet received any promises of future membership.: the country doesn't even have a candidate status.

• The United States has expressed support for the ruling party, as it is interested in gaining control of the Zangezur Corridor, which will block Iran's overland supply route and could harm the countries of the Transcaucasia, Russia and China (we discussed here the reason for the US interest in the Zangezur Corridor). The United States is satisfied with the ruling party of Armenia, which is meeting Washington's demands, and a change in the republic's political course may harm American interests in the region.

• For Russia, the result of the parliamentary elections in Armenia may be crucial in relations between the two countries. Earlier, Moscow demanded that Yerevan hold a referendum and make a final decision on the issue of rapprochement with the European Union, since it is impossible to be in the customs union simultaneously with the European Union and the EAEU. So far, the Armenian authorities are trying to sit on two chairs, declaring their commitment to European integration, but at the same time not wanting to lose the advantages of membership in the EAEU. But a change in the balance of power in parliament may change this vector.