YEREVAN (Realist English). Opposition forces in Armenia, having failed to cross the electoral threshold in the June 7 parliamentary elections, have moved from words to action.
Against the backdrop of the Central Election Commission’s refusal to revise the final figures, the Prosperous Armenia party announced the start of indefinite protests and demanded that the vote be declared invalid.
Following suit, the Wings of Unity party officially challenged the results, while the leader of the Strong Armenia bloc, Samvel Karapetyan, called for a second round and expressed readiness to bring his supporters out onto the streets.
Meanwhile, Russian observers from the CEC of the Russian Federation are recording a growing number of “fundamental violations.”
Wings of Unity: “The Elections Do Not Reflect the Will of the People”
One of the first to file an official complaint was the Wings of Unity party, led by former ombudsman Arman Tatoyan. Although the party received only 2.33% of the vote and did not cross the threshold, its representatives submitted a statement to the CEC demanding that the elections be declared invalid and that a repeat vote be called.
In his appeal, Tatoyan pointed to “numerous cases of vote theft” during the count and discrepancies in the protocols. “The elections do not reflect the real will of the voters,” he said, pledging to continue fighting for the truth, even if it must be proven in court.
“Falsified and Failed”
The leader of the Strong Armenia bloc (23.28%), Samvel Karapetyan, took a more radical stance. On June 12, he demanded that the CEC completely annul the election results and hold a second round, calling the elections “completely failed, falsified and held in an atmosphere of terror.”
“Pashinyan did not win the elections. Armenia needs legitimate power. He has not provided it,” Karapetyan said at a press conference.
Karapetyan also announced that if legal methods fail, the opposition is ready to take to the streets. “If we decide that street struggle is the fastest path, we will take it. Our goal is to remove Pashinyan from power,” he stressed, though he did not rule out the option of taking mandates to accelerate the prime minister’s resignation.
Prosperous Armenia: Threat of Mass Actions
The sharpest reaction came from the Prosperous Armenia party of businessman Gagik Tsarukyan. Having come within a hair’s breadth of parliament — the party lacked about 60 votes to cross the 4% threshold — opposition members accused the CEC of “legal lawlessness.”
Party representative Suren Surenyants stated that the protest actions near the CEC building on June 12 were “only the beginning.” “If Nikol Pashinyan does not stop the legal lawlessness and arbitrariness, then all government buildings and the streets of Yerevan will be flooded with tens of thousands of people,” he warned, adding that the authorities are mistaken if they think they can break the opposition.
CEC Decisions: Annulment of Precincts and Vote Recount
At its meeting on June 11, the Central Election Commission of Armenia decided to annul the voting results at two polling stations — one in Yerevan and one in Agarak, Syunik Province. The reason was numerous reports that military personnel had been brought to the stations minutes before the polls closed and continued to vote after the official deadline.
According to the Akantes observer mission, about 480 soldiers voted after 8:00 p.m. at the Syunik station alone. CEC Chairman Vaagn Hovakimyan, commenting on the situation, said that such violations could significantly affect the final results. Materials on these facts have been forwarded to the prosecutor’s office.
As a result of this decision, Prosperous Armenia lost 213 votes. The party has already announced its intention to appeal the CEC’s decision. “This CEC decision is arbitrary and disgraceful,” said party spokeswoman Iveta Tonoyan. “It effectively stole five mandates from us.”
Later, on June 12, the CEC annulled the voting results at a third polling station — in the city of Artashat. The reason this time was the absence of one of the political forces (the National Democratic Pole) from the ballot, which is a direct violation of electoral law. After each such decision, protesters near the CEC building greeted the news with cries of “Shame!”
“There Were Many Violations”
Russian observers present at the elections also recorded systemic problems. Ella Pamfilova, head of the Russian CEC, summing up the work of the mission, stated that Russian experts working in Armenia had identified “many fundamental violations.”
“The work was not easy… There were many difficulties, there were many violations, let’s be honest, many,” Pamfilova was quoted as saying by Russia 24 TV channel.
Although the mission’s final report has not yet been published, the head of the Russian CEC has already made it clear that the recorded facts could call into question the legitimacy of the voting procedure.
