Armenia election body blocks attempt to ban Russia-linked party ahead of vote
Decision made by the Central Election Commission was unanimous (photo: Getty Images)
On June 6, Armenia's Central Election Commission (CEC) refused to disqualify the opposition party Strong Armenia, led by Armenian-Russian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan. The decision came one day before the elections were scheduled to take place, according to Radio Svoboda.
The request to disqualify the bloc was filed by the pro-European Republic party on behalf of Aram Sargsyan. The complaint was based, in particular, on allegations of voter bribery.
"During the 2026 election campaign, the Strong Armenia alliance participating in the elections, and individuals associated with it, allegedly committed numerous actions aimed at distributing electoral bribes and concealing financial interests among voters, with their acquiescence, encouragement, or consent," the statement said.
However, Strong Armenia denied the allegations, calling the complaint legal nonsense.
"The Electoral Code refers to continuous violations. You have not proven a single violation, yet you speak of continuous violations. You claim there are accusations. There are no accusations," said party candidate deputy and lawyer Aram Vardevanyan.
After a two-hour hearing, the CEC unanimously rejected the request to cancel Strong Armenia's registration. CEC Chairman Vahagn Hovakimyan said there were no grounds for disqualification and that the complaint from the Republic bloc was based on assumptions.
Background
According to the media, the Republic party submitted its request to the CEC after public television debates held on June 4, which included Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
During the debate, it was proposed that, based on reports and published recordings of voter bribery, Strong Armenia should be deregistered. However, Pashinyan said his party would not file a complaint to the CEC to avoid the impression that it feared losing the election.
Media previously reported that Armenia would hold a parliamentary election on June 7, with the pro-European course pursued in recent years under Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at stake.
Read here for more details on Pashinyan and Armenia's Western course.
