Elections 2026: Will Armenian society follow a war criminal? Kocharyan dreams of power

As the parliamentary elections scheduled for June 2026 draw closer, the intensity of the domestic political struggle is steadily rising. This is driven by the renewed activity of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s long-standing political rivals — the leaders of the Karabakh clan and war criminals Serzh Sargsyan and Robert Kocharyan — as well as the Armenian Church, represented by Catholicos Garegin II.

Last week, the most “resonant” figure on this front was Armenia’s second president, Robert Kocharyan, who, during a meeting with his supporters, presented his own strategy aimed at preventing the Civil Contract party from winning the upcoming parliamentary elections.

“If we work properly, the Civil Contract party will have no chance of being re-elected. Today, all polls show that Civil Contract will not be able to gather the required number of votes on its own, so we should not dwell on that — we must act decisively. My approach to life has always been this: if you enter a struggle, don’t even look to see whether anyone is behind you — move forward. Once you move forward, others will follow you,” he said.

This eloquent tirade by the former president appears to be a response to the recent and rather sharp remarks made by Pashinyan, which he addressed to his opponents during a session of the National Assembly. The Armenian leader stated that Kocharyan and Sargsyan have long ceased to be his competitors and called for an end to discussions about the activities of Armenia’s former authorities.

“I truly believe that we need to stop talking about the former authorities, because there is nothing to discuss. What haven’t we already said? The package on the Karabakh issue that we published makes it clear that there is nothing to discuss at all. We come and talk for hours about Robert Kocharyan, Serzh Sargsyan. In my view, they are no longer competitors. They have long ceased to be our competitors,” Pashinyan said.

It is absolutely clear that these words of the prime minister are aimed at the domestic audience and can be characterised as a clear message to society that it should not give in to the empty promises of the former presidents.

On the other hand, the authorities are aware that the majority of citizens are unwilling to follow the opposition’s lead and are largely ignoring calls for anti-government street protests, a factor that significantly undermines the position of those opposing regional peace. This was clearly reflected in Nikol Pashinyan’s statement in parliament during the discussion of the draft law “On the State Budget of the Republic of Armenia for 2026.”

“...we have brought Armenia out of the geopolitical trap... We have brought Armenia to a place where prospects have opened up for Armenia in all directions, and Armenia, the people of Armenia, can decide by their sovereign will the direction, what vision of development they adopt. But the main issue for 2026 is the following: the people of the Republic of Armenia must stand up for peace in the elections, and let me say, I have no for a second that the people of the Republic of Armenia will stand up for peace, because it is not someone else's peace, it is their peace, the peace of their children, their family, their grandchildren, their great-grandchildren, and that is the greatest tribute to all the martyrs,” Pashinyan said, noting that peace has been established between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and that the task now is to preserve it, strengthen it, and institutionalize it.

As for Robert Kocharyan’s ambitions, it is obvious that in this entire political race, he is pursuing his own interests solely. As the newspaper Hraparak recently reported, the former president of Armenia intends to put forward his son, Levon Kocharyan, a deputy from the Armenia faction, as the number one candidate on the party list for the 2026 parliamentary elections. According to the publication, in recent months Levon Kocharyan has been constantly travelling across the regions and holding meetings with citizens, while the former president himself has announced that his team will take part in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Notably, Robert Kocharyan does not have a single permanent party of his own, but heads the "Armenia" alliance, which includes the parties Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) and Reviving Armenia.

Incidentally, during his most recent press conference with media outlets loyal to him, Robert Kocharyan sharply criticised the agreements reached on August 8 at the White House and launched another round of attacks on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. He compared the Washington accords to the Trilateral Statement of November 10, 2020, signed with the participation of Russia, which he called a “dream document.” Accusing the prime minister of “handing over U.S. control of the Zangezur corridor,” Kocharyan called for active involvement of Iran in regional processes, hinting at the need to form an alternative alliance.

Notably, the timing of the press conference coincided with another visit by Kocharyan to Moscow. At that time, the former president did not deny being in the Russian capital in recent days, but assured that the trip was purely personal and did not involve any political contacts. However, the newspaper Hraparak, citing its own sources, reported that Kocharyan met with Sergey Kiriyenko, Deputy Chief of the Russian Presidential Administration, who oversees Armenia, noting that the discussion concerned domestic political processes, including preparations for the 2026 parliamentary elections. According to the publication’s sources, Sergey Kiriyenko made no commitments and indicated to Kocharyan that the Kremlin was distancing itself from the current situation in Armenia.

Kocharyan’s previous press conference in February 2025 was organised immediately after his return from Moscow to Yerevan. Is this just a coincidence? Hardly, since where political interests exist, coincidences are excluded. Current realities in Armenia show that opponents of peace in the South Caucasus are preparing for their decisive battle in the upcoming elections. The only question is whether Armenian society will follow them.