Media: MP from Armenian ex-president's party to run for premier in 2026

Levon Zourabian, Vice-Chairman of the Armenian National Congress (ANC), has been nominated as the party’s candidate for prime minister in Armenia’s 2026 parliamentary elections, per the Yerevan-based newspaper Hraparak, cited by Caliber.Az.

ANC member Aram Manukyan, the party made the decision following consultations with political forces within the ANC, which was founded by former Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrosyan.

The ANC has decided to contest the elections independently, while remaining open to cooperation with other political forces and individual figures.

The party is scheduled to hold a pre-holiday event on December 26, at the Holiday Inn hotel, during which the congress will formally announce the format of its participation in the elections and confirm Zourabian as its prime ministerial candidate.

For the record, Armenia's upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for June 7, 2026, mark the first regularly scheduled national vote since 2017 and the first full-term contest under Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's leadership since the 2021 snap elections. This vote will determine the composition of the unicameral National Assembly (parliament), which in turn nominates the prime minister—the country's most powerful position in its parliamentary republic system established by the 2015 constitutional reforms.

By Khagan Isayev