Armenian Opposition Leader Karapetyan Announces Coalition Plans After Election Defeat

Samoil Karapetyan, chairman of the opposition 'Strong Armenia' party and head of the Tashir holding company, announced his intention to consolidate opposition forces following Armenia's June 7 parliamentary elections. In interviews with Armenian media editors on June 17, Karapetyan declared the launch of a process to unite opposition parties, acknowledging that their failure to coordinate before the elections had undermined their electoral performance. He stated that opposition forces would respond to the call for unity and that a post-election opposition coalition would be formed, facilitated by a coordinating council.

The ruling 'Civil Contract' party of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan secured over 49.7% of the votes in the June 7 elections, allowing it to form a government independently. 'Strong Armenia' came second with approximately 23.3%, followed by the 'Armenia' bloc of former president Robert Kocharian with over 9.9%. The 'Prosperous Armenia' party of businessman Gagik Tsarukyan failed to clear the 4% threshold, receiving about 3.9%.

The coalition announcement comes amid significant legal challenges facing opposition leaders. Karapetyan has been under house arrest since January 19, 2026, following his arrest in June 2025 on charges of inciting a seizure of power. On the same day as Karapetyan's coalition announcement, Armenia's Central Electoral Commission approved the prosecutor general's request to strip former president Kocharian of parliamentary immunity and pursue criminal charges against him for abuse of office and money laundering. Kocharian has been banned from leaving the country. Additionally, the prosecutor general has initiated criminal proceedings against Tsarukyan for large-scale tax evasion, with a travel ban imposed as a preventive measure.

Prime Minister Pashinyan has taken a confrontational stance toward the opposition, declaring that opposition forces who entered parliament through the elections did so illegally and should be stripped of their political rights. He announced that his party's agenda would include confiscating the assets of Karapetyan, Kocharian, and Tsarukyan, stating that they 'should starve' to prevent them from distributing pre-election bribes.