Political analysts have stated that the political situation in Armenia is complex ahead of the parliamentary elections.

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Parliamentary elections will be held in Armenia in June, and several parties have already announced their plans to participate. Political scientists believe the elections will be unfair, as the current authorities are already eliminating competitors.

The parliamentary elections for the 9th convocation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, which will take place in early June 2026, will be held according to law under a proportional electoral system based on party lists. Thirteen electoral districts will be created for the elections. Individuals who have held Armenian citizenship for the past four years, permanently reside in Armenia, and speak Armenian are eligible to become members of parliament.

According to the Central Election Commission of Armenia, the Constitution of Armenia stipulates that parliament is elected for a five-year term with at least 101 members. The minimum electoral threshold is 5% for parties and 7% for party blocs.

According to a CEC employee, the elections will be held between June 2 and 12; there is no presidential decree yet on the election date. Applications are currently being accepted from citizens wishing to participate in professional training courses on election administration. Applications are accepted until February 13 from individuals who have reached the age of 18 and are eligible to vote. The courses will be held in March and April.

On January 19, the Central Election Commission of Armenia also established the procedure for accrediting local and international election observers.

In particular, organizations conducting an observation mission and acting jointly may operate under a single name, which must not coincide, including partially, with the names of parties or political associations. In the case of joint observation, public organizations and foundations submit a joint accreditation application, and observers are accredited based on a joint list of observers. "If, after accreditation of an organization conducting an observation mission, cases are discovered in which the observation organization's data matches the data of a member of the election commission, a candidate participating in the given elections, a technical equipment maintenance specialist, a proxy, or a media representative, the commission shall exclude these individuals, who are not entitled to act as observers, from the list of accredited observers. The following organizations may lose their observer accreditation: if any member of the organization's governing body participates in these elections as a candidate, if the organization provides support to candidates or parties participating in the elections or carries out pre-election campaigning," the Central Election Commission of Armenia reported.

The Civil Contract party of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the opposition parliamentary bloc Armenia of second President Robert Kocharyan have already announced their participation in the parliamentary elections.
 
Robert Kocharyan said at a press conference in Yerevan on January 29: "We do not rule out participation in the 2026 parliamentary elections in the same format - as the Armenia bloc."
 
Also announced their participation in the upcoming elections are the ARF Dashnaktsutyun, the Armenian National Congress of first President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Wings of Unity with former Armenian Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan, and New Force with the former mayor of Yerevan Hayk Marutyan, "Enlightened Armenia" with its leader Edmon Marukyan, and the "Po-Nashemu" political movement led by businessman Samvel Karapetyan.

Political scientists assessed the likelihood of holding fair elections

Political scientist Stepan Danielyan and political scientist Vahe Hovhannisyan commented on the situation in Armenia on the eve of the elections to a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on February 2.

According to Stepan Danielyan, "there is no point in talking about a fierce competition, since already at this stage it can be said that the upcoming parliamentary elections in Armenia are unlikely to meet democratic standards."

The elections are consistent with a dictatorial system, and the current prime minister himself states, That a change of power can be achieved through revolution, but not through elections.

"In my opinion, it's already clear today that the elections will be illegal. For example, the supervisory legislation is being amended. Some of the competing forces are in prison, while criminal cases are being brought against others. In this context, when statements are made that these are geopolitical elections and that "evil forces" will not be allowed to come to power, summing it all up, we can say that an illegal government will be formed in Armenia. The Constitution has long been invalid. There are numerous examples of this—starting in 2018, when courts were blocked and judges were persecuted, and now clergy are being similarly persecuted on fabricated charges. Such cases have never occurred anywhere in the world. Nor has there ever been a case of a prime minister issuing orders to block courts and persecute judges. In this situation, talking about competitive elections is, of course, unrealistic. It can already be said that the elections are consistent with a dictatorial system, and the current prime minister himself states that a change of power can be achieved through a revolution, but not through elections. Another question is how society will behave in the event of election fraud,” the expert stated.

He emphasized that “we are not talking about the use of administrative resources, but about illegality, about the fact that the Constitution is no longer in effect, that elections are conducted through the police system, about the use of violence, which we are now seeing in relation to the clergy.”

Answering the question of whether the attitude towards the church weakens the position of the authorities, Danielyan noted that “today the church is the only national institution that is independent of the government, which has led to "violence."

"Here, in my opinion, the example of Georgia plays a major role, in particular the fact that Saakashvili lost power, which was facilitated by the church. Saakashvili noted in his speeches that their main mistake was allowing the church to maintain its independence. Now the main task of the Armenian authorities is control over all institutions. Sober-minded people already understand what will happen next, and the authorities are left with no other option but to hold elections using violence. This is confirmed by sociological surveys," the political scientist said.

He believes that the topic of surrendering Nagorno-Karabakh "unfortunately is no longer relevant, since the current government is blackmailing society, presenting the situation as if raising the issue of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) could be regarded as a provocation of war." "I think political forces understand that raising the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) issue at this stage is inappropriate," Danielyan added.

All interested parties will try to influence

Speaking about whether external forces, particularly Russia, could influence the elections, the expert noted that "the current global situation is such that, regardless of where elections are held, they could lead to a change in the situation and a shift in political vectors." "The European Union is already openly talking about interfering in the elections—it's allocating funds, talking about the 'Moldovan option.' And all interested parties will try to influence it." "Here, the question is what methods will be used," the political scientist noted.

Commenting on the resonant statement by Russian TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov, the expert believes that "it was addressed not to Armenia, but to the United States in the context of the events in Venezuela." "That is, when the US 'kidnaps the president' and declares that the Western Hemisphere is a zone of American control, and that if they need Greenland, they will take it, then Russia is saying: in that case, the territory of the former USSR is our zone of control, and we can act in the same way. This is a very specific message to their opponents, not to Armenia. The question is who has the power to do this, and to what extent," the political scientist argued.

According to Vahe Hovhannisyan, "if leading political forces accept as a principled point that Armenia no longer exists before 2018, and that neither the region nor the world are the same, this will provide a sound basis for beginning Armenia's post-war reconstruction, based on existing realities."

"If we can explain to voters that a choice is needed first, and only then a vote, then we will see a significant change in the public atmosphere by June." "If our electoral elites themselves understand and manage to convey to the people that the world has entered a stage of international relations characterized by 'special operations,' where the strong, essentially after a short period of preparation, commits the most incredible actions, such as in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), Gaza, Venezuela, Greenland, and possibly Iran, then our society will noticeably sober up, realizing that the apparent peace can transform into a different story in a matter of hours," the political scientist noted.

He noted that "it is important to recognize how dangerous the fact is that approximately 60 percent of society has still not decided whether they will go to the polls, whether elections are important to them at all, and what exactly these elections are about, in order to take reality more seriously." "Contenders for the next government must correctly formulate the mission of the future government. Only then will they succeed. However, the formulation must be truly precise and honest." This mission is extremely limited, but at the same time historic: to remove Armenia from the superpower clash zone with pinpoint precision, competently manage the current state of "non-war," put an end to the division and hostility within society, and, based on internal harmony and new rules of coexistence, begin the post-war reconstruction of the country," the expert believes.