Former ruling party MP sees early elections in Armenia
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will call fresh parliamentary elections in the coming months, a lawmaker ousted from his Civil Contract party last month said on Monday.
“I don’t predict, I’m sure that there will be early elections,” Hovik Aghazaryan told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Aghazaryan refused to give a detailed reasoning for his claim. He said only that due to external challenges facing Armenia and for “other reasons” as well Pashinyan and Civil Contract would stand a better chance of winning an early vote than a regular one due in June 2026.
Neither Pashinyan nor senior members of his party have publicly hinted at the possibility of an early ballot so far.
The premier triggered widespread speculation about his election preparations in November after he lamented a continuing lack of “justice” in the country and told six senior state officials and two pro-government lawmakers, including Aghazaryan, to resign. All of them except Aghazaryan swiftly tendered resignation.
Representatives of Armenia’s two main opposition groups described the resignations as a publicity stunt aimed at reversing a decline in Pashinyan's approval ratings. They said he is simply scared of losing the next elections and wants to trick Armenians into believing that he is not responsible for his government’s failings and can still turn things around.