June 12, 2026 - 14:17 AMT
Simonyan warns opponents of possible prosecutions

National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan, addressing opposition figures, declared that they would “go to prison one by one,” adding that “the velvet era is over.” He made the statement on his Telegram channel.

“If you think that with such shallow topics you can distract attention from distributed vote-buying and voting directed from abroad, you are gravely mistaken. You will go to prison one by one for giving and taking election bribes. Don’t doubt it by even 1%. The velvet era is over,” Simonyan wrote.

The parliamentary speaker argued that investigations into alleged vote-buying and foreign influence on voting remain ongoing and should not be overshadowed by other political discussions.

According to preliminary data, the votes were distributed as follows: Civil Contract — 49.825%, Strong Armenia — 23.281%, Hayastan Alliance — 9.934%, Prosperous Armenia — 3.996%. Under updated figures, Prosperous Armenia does not pass the 4% threshold required for parties and has requested recounts in several polling stations.

Late on June 11, the Central Election Commission decided to invalidate the voting results at polling stations No. 10/51 and 35/65. As a result, Prosperous Armenia lost a total of 213 votes, reducing its chances of surpassing the 4% threshold required to enter parliament.