Political scientist explaines reasons for opposition not to  relinquish its mandates in RA NA

ArmInfo.Political scientist Stepan Danielyan used specific examples to explain why the Armenian  opposition, which entered parliament following the latest elections to the National Assembly of Armenia on June 7, should not relinquish its mandates.

In a post on his Facebook page, the expert recalled a similar  situation in Georgia. "The opposition in Georgia also did not  relinquish its mandates. However, this in no way prevents the  Georgian authorities from doing what they want," the political  scientist noted.

Furthermore, he noted that the resolution or freezing of the  Ukrainian and Iranian conflicts will lead to a new regional  situation. This, in turn, according to Danielyan, will lead to the  loss of the Civil Contract party's foreign policy strategy and the  loss of interest from its "patrons." "At the same time, the  squandering of the Armenian budget in recent months, the questionable  parliamentary elections, and the presence of a significant portion of  society that hates the Civil Contract party could lead to the fall of  power, either peacefully or not," the political scientist added.

In this regard, Danielyan expressed his conviction that for a  legitimate change of power to take place, there must be an opposition  in parliament. "For a legitimate transition of power in the country,  there must be a parliamentary opposition, as well as the necessary  pole for a possible 'rat race.' It will be interesting to hear a  reasoned opposing point of view," the expert concluded.

As a reminder, parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on June  7, 2026. Voter turnout was 58.97%.  According to preliminary data  from Armenia's Central Election Commission, Nikol Pashinyan's ruling  Civil Contract party, Samvel Karapetyan's Strong Armenia bloc, and  second president Robert Kocharyan's Armenia bloc have all entered  parliament. The remaining candidates scored below the required  threshold of 4% for parties and 8-10% for blocs. Notably, businessman  Gagik Tsarukyan's Prosperous Armenia party lost its 4% threshold  after the Central Election Commission adjusted preliminary vote  counts for the country's parliamentary elections. Therefore, the  party will not enter the new parliament.

It should be noted that from early morning on election day, observers  and journalists reported numerous violations by the ruling party  during the voting process. Thus, Pashinyan's party has the  opportunity to single-handedly form the country's government by  securing a majority of seats in Armenia's parliament.  Pashinyan  solemnly announced this late at night, when data from only about 10%  of polling stations had been processed.