Pashinyan: Former Forces Will Suffer a Crushing Defeat and Be Irreversibly Pushed Out of Politics

YEREVAN — In April 2024, we stepped away from the status of a nation and state placed on the altar of history and embarked on the path of a free, sovereign, and developing state.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said this during a briefing with journalists, noting that Armenia is advancing along that path with greater speed and effectiveness than expected.

“What will the June 7, 2026 election be about? The election will be about whether we return to the trajectory of 1853–56 to 2022–23, or whether we continue along the path of peace, sovereignty, independence, statehood, prosperity, development, unblocking, and ultimately, happiness. That is what this election is about—nothing else.

“You ask about the nomination of a candidate for prime minister—what do I say about that?” he continued, referring to Karapetyan. “All of this is the last attempt to delegitimize the Republic of Armenia, the final attempt to declare the Republic of Armenia a non-state.

“And you know what? I believe I know what our people feel and think. If I did not know what our people think, feel, and want, I could not have:
a) become Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia;
b) remained Prime Minister after going through all of this.”

Pashinyan expressed confidence that all the forces he mentioned “will together receive a crushing minority in the upcoming parliamentary elections.”

“As a result of these elections, all former authorities and all oligarchs will be definitively and irreversibly pushed out of the political arena.

“After 2026, you will no longer see an oligarch engaged in politics, nor will you see, for example, a former president involved in politics,” he concluded.