The leader of the Republic Party, Aram Sargsyan, said he will not apply to Armenia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) to seek restrictions on the participation of the Armenia Alliance led by former President Robert Kocharyan and the Strong Armenia alliance headed by businessman Samvel Karapetyan. He made the remarks during a televised debate on Public Television, CivilNet reported.

During the June 4 televised debate among the top candidates on party lists, Aram Sargsyan and Gurgen Simonyan, leaders of the Republic and Shnorhrapetakan parties, asked Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan why Armenia’s CEC had allowed the political forces led by Robert Kocharyan and Samvel Karapetyan to participate in the electoral process.

Pashinyan replied that he had refrained from taking such a step in order to avoid accusations of putting pressure on the opposition. He advised them to urgently appeal to the CEC and demand the cancellation of the registration of those political forces.

Sargsyan stated that he had already verbally approached the chairman of Armenia’s Central Election Commission.

“He said that Armenia’s CEC does not possess the authority that Moldova’s election commission had,” said Republic Party chairman and prime ministerial candidate Aram Sargsyan.

In response to Pashinyan’s question about whether he had submitted a written request, Sargsyan said he would definitely do so the following day.

However, later during the debate, Sargsyan declared: “Armenia’s independence and peace are under threat, and this is not a matter of me applying to the CEC, Mr. Prime Minister.”

Pashinyan repeated an assessment he had voiced during the election campaign regarding a “three-headed monster” participating in the elections. He was referring to billionaire Samvel Karapetyan’s Strong Armenia alliance, the Armenia Alliance led by the country’s second president, and businessman Gagik Tsarukyan’s Prosperous Armenia Party, which are viewed as pro-Russian political forces.

Pashinyan also stated that the number of war fatalities stands at 4,273. He was responding to Arman Tatoyan, co-founder of the political initiative Wings of Unity and a candidate for prime minister, who presented the results of a fact-finding effort and said the death toll had been 4,991.

“From 2018 to the present, the number of fatalities is 4,273, including civilians. This is the official figure,” the prime minister said.

Eighteen political forces are participating in Armenia’s parliamentary elections scheduled for June 7. Aram Sargsyan is so far the only political leader to declare readiness to form a post-election coalition with Nikol Pashinyan. He has also stated that he is campaigning against Robert Kocharyan.

According to surveys conducted in May by the International Republican Institute and the Caucasus Research Resource Center, the political forces led by Karapetyan and Kocharyan ranked second and third respectively.