PanARMENIAN.Net - For the first time in Armenia's history, Azerbaijan's demands are being presented as an election program, said Ishkhan Saghatelyan, a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) Supreme Body and MP from the Hayastan faction, commenting on the Civil Contract party's election platform.
"The ruling group has published its regular election 'program.' In reality, it could have been ignored if not for one important fact: for the first time in Armenia's history, Azerbaijan's demands are being presented as an election program.
Why is it pointless to discuss Civil Contract's promises?
Recall what they promised during the 2021 snap elections. They promised Artsakh's status, 'remedial secession,' 'de-occupation of Hadrut and Shushi,' they promised peace and security and asked you for a 'steel mandate' to implement it.
And what did they actually do? They implemented everything Aliyev demanded. They handed over Artsakh, surrendered our sovereign territories, and brought the enemy closer to our homes.
If last time they concealed their real goals and then fulfilled Azerbaijan's demands, this time they are not even hiding it. Everything written in this program - from constitutional changes to attacks on the Church and the opening of so-called 'corridors' - is the dream of Aliyev and Erdogan, now presented to you as a 'government program.' Including in a secular state, writing in a party program about 'removing' the Catholicos or 'electing a locum tenens' is not only unconstitutional but characteristic of Bolshevik dictatorships.
Therefore, saying yes to the Civil Contract program means saying yes to Aliyev's plans," he wrote.
RPA representative Samvel Farmanyan wrote on Facebook that the only way to remove Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is a united opposition.
He noted that both in wars and elections, victory or defeat is shaped before they even begin, and the same logic applies to electoral processes.
"Raffi Hovhannisyan's Heritage party announced it will not participate in the elections and will support the opposition force with the highest rating - Samvel Karapetyan. Hrant Bagratyan said the same. Other forces as well.
The Republican Party also announced it will not participate, which effectively means their votes will largely go to the key opposition force. Levon Ter-Petrosyan's Armenian National Congress had earlier stated it encourages forming a broad opposition front around Samvel Karapetyan, and I believe they will follow that path.
All this is a window of hope. Those who made such decisions deserve respect, as they have shown by example that there is one overriding task - removing Nikol. Everything else is secondary.
Hopefully, this positive trend of opposition unity will continue, and the opposition will present itself as a united front in the elections, in which case Nikol will have zero chance of being reproduced.
Those who, out of personal ambition, stand in the way of opposition unity and split votes are no better than Nikol if they do so. Without exaggeration, Armenia's very existence is at stake.
I repeat for the thousandth time: the only way to remove Nikol on June 7 is a united opposition - a black-and-white choice," the post said.
Parliamentary elections in Armenia are scheduled for June 7, 2026.
Source: PanArmenian.Net
