During the debate, Pashinyan called for the deregistration of rival parties.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan agreed with the thesis expressed during the debate that political forces that employ an external political narrative should not be allowed to participate in the elections, and called on other election participants to appeal to the Central Election Commission to deregister Strong Armenia, Alliance Armenia, and Prosperous Armenia.
As "Caucasian Knot" reported, high voter turnout on election day in Armenia's parliamentary elections could significantly impact their results, with the opposition, not the ruling party, seeking a high turnout. Moscow's attempt to support pro-Russian forces could also yield unexpected results.
Armenia's parliamentary elections on June 7 will effectively be a referendum on the future of Nikol Pashinyan's rule and the country's foreign policy. At stake is the preservation of power by the current team or its transition to the opposition, which promises to reconsider the key decisions of recent years, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "2026 Elections to the National Assembly (Parliament) of Armenia". Samvel Karapetyan's "Strong Armenia", along with Robert Kocharyan's "Armenia" bloc and Gagik Tsarukyan's "Prosperous Armenia" party, is one of the most pro-Russian parties in the parliamentary elections of Armenia. The Kremlinis betting on Karapetyan, but by law he cannot participate in the elections, Armenian political scientists pointed out earlier.
During the pre-election debates, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the Civil Contract Party's candidate for prime minister, called for the Central Election Commission to raise the issue of deregistering parties participating in the elections.
Pashinyan responded to statements by Aram Sargsyan, head of the Republic Party, and Gurgen Simonyan, leader of the Meritocratic Party of Armenia, about the need to prevent political forces from participating in the elections, which Sargsyan described as using an "external political narrative." Noting that the Central Election Commission decides whether to deregister a particular party, Pashinyan inquired why they hadn't appealed to the CEC to deregister Samvel Karapetyan's Strong Armenia, Robert Kocharyan's Armenia bloc, and Gagik Tsarukyan's Prosperous Armenia, Armenia Today reports.
"We won't do this, as we'll be accused of being afraid of losing the election and wanting to neutralize our competitors," News.Am quotes Pashinyan as saying.
The Prime Minister called on Simonyan and Sargsyan to "urgently" appeal to the CEC to deregister two of these political forces. "I call on the political forces participating in the elections to urgently appeal to the Central Election Commission tomorrow to deregister the Strong Armenia, Prosperous Armenia, and Armenia bloc parties," Pashinyan urged.