ANC calls for united “NO” front

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian National Congress (ANC) has launched an initiative aimed at uniting political forces, proposing the formation of a united “No” front and the organization of coordinated activities. The proposal was outlined in a party statement.

According to the ANC, under the pretext of securing a constitutional majority allegedly needed for the swift establishment of peace with Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government has begun a process of restricting democratic and civil freedoms in Armenia and laying the institutional foundations for personal rule.

The statement includes several claims:

1. Despite Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan’s acknowledgment during public debates that all major opposition forces accept the preliminary peace agreement, all critics of the government have been labeled “parties of war” and enemies of peace.
2. Large-scale and systemic electoral violations allegedly took place during the elections, distorting the will of Armenia’s citizens and undermining the legitimacy of state authority.
3. The ANC claims that, in clear violation of Article 101 of the Electoral Code and citizens’ voting rights, the Central Electoral Commission adopted an unlawful decision granting four additional mandates to Nikol Pashinyan’s political force. According to the party, this gave the ruling force a majority exceeding three-fifths of parliament, significantly weakening the system of checks and balances.
4. The statement further alleges that the ruling Civil Contract party, in cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, has introduced an unconstitutional draft amendment to the Electoral Code. Under the proposal, only citizens who have permanently resided in Armenia during the previous year would be eligible to vote in referendums and parliamentary elections. The ANC argues that the initiative is intended to remove roughly half a million citizens from the voter rolls, thereby making it easier to pass constitutional changes allegedly demanded by Azerbaijan and favorable to strengthening Pashinyan’s personal authority.

According to the ANC, the government’s long-term objective is to secure a constitutional majority in parliament and adopt a constitution that would both eliminate the Declaration of Independence as a state-legal foundation of Armenia’s independence and remove the remaining constitutional checks on executive power.

“The regime cynically uses international support for the peace process with Azerbaijan and attempts to turn it into support for its efforts to establish an authoritarian and anti-democratic system in the country,” the statement says.

The ANC proposes establishing a unified governing body for the “No” movement through joint consultations and coordinating common activities, including:

1. Organizing joint mass public protests in support of challenges to the results of the June 7, 2026 parliamentary elections and related government decisions and acts that the ANC considers unlawful.
2. Pursuing, within constitutional mechanisms, the earliest possible snap parliamentary elections, which the party describes as the only way to overcome the crisis caused by what it calls the illegitimacy of state power.
3. Opposing what it describes as unlawful attempts to create a constitutional majority through fraud and repression, as well as resisting any amendment to Article 202 of the Constitution that could lower the current two-thirds parliamentary threshold required to submit a new constitution to a referendum.
4. Drafting a new constitution based on the semi-presidential model adopted in 1990 through a process of national consensus. According to the ANC, the draft should preserve references to the Declaration of Independence while establishing constitutional mechanisms of checks and balances that would ensure the genuine independence of the judiciary, investigative bodies, the Central Electoral Commission, and other public institutions from executive power.

Final results of the June 7 parliamentary elections were published on June 14. Civil Contract received 726,819 votes, or 49.7456 percent; Strong Armenia received 340,006 votes, or 23.2710 percent; and the Hayastan Alliance received 144,983 votes, or 9.9231 percent. The Prosperous Armenia Party failed to pass the 4 percent electoral threshold, receiving 58,287 votes, or 3.9893 percent.

Civil Contract will hold 64 mandates, including three allocated to representatives of national minorities. Strong Armenia will receive 29 mandates, including one seat for an Assyrian representative, while the Hayastan Alliance will have 12 mandates.