ANC Prime Ministerial candidate presents party`s election strategy  and key policy stance

ArmInfo.Levon Zurabyan, Deputy Chairman of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) and the party's prime ministerial candidate, has presented the format for the participation in the parliamentary elections in Armenia, scheduled for June 7, 2026, and its stance on key issues.

Zurabyan announced at a press conference in Yerevan, thatthe party  intends to participate in the parliamentary elections with its own  electoral application. "We are going into the elections as the only  political force capable of ensuring sovereign peace for the country.  The main issue of these elections, in our view, is peace. Armenian  Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan understands this perfectly well, which  is why he has made the peace agenda his main campaign slogan. The  authorities are trying to convince us that they have brought peace,  but in reality, there is none, because a peace treaty has not been  signed, Armenian prisoners of war remain in Baku, and Azerbaijani  politicians and media continue to voice territorial claims against  Armenia. Meanwhile, the Trump route (TRIPP), which remains merely an  intention, is losing its viability as a result of recent events in  the region," the ANC Deputy Chairman noted.

The politician  stated that Azerbaijan continues to put forward new  demands that pose a threat to the country's sovereignty and  democracy. "In 2021, the Armenian authorities once again claimed to  have brought peace, but as a result, we lost Artsakh, and Armenia's  sovereign territories were occupied. And after all this, the Armenian  prime minister presents his political force as a party of peace.  However, it was Pashinyan who lost all prospects for peace. The  Armenian prime minister abandoned the 2019 peace plan, which  envisioned the transfer of five regions in exchange for real peace  guarantees for Armenia and Artsakh. Pashinyan also lost prospects for  peace in 2022-2023, by renouncing the statement of November 9, 2020.  And  right now the Armenian prime minister is doing the same, hoping  to implement the Trump route, which in reality will not work, since  it is based not on the neutralization of superpower interests, but on  their clash," Zurabyan believes.

In response, he says, their party is proposing its own model of  sovereign peace. In this regard, he recalled that their political  force has always spoken of the need to normalize relations with  Turkey and Azerbaijan, and has demonstrated results in this direction  in the past. "Within the framework of the model we propose, we are  ready to continue the process of establishing peace with Azerbaijan,  and at the same time, we declare our readiness to fulfill our  international obligations. Establishing peace with Azerbaijan and  Turkey and normalizing relations with these countries will be our top  priority," he emphasized.

Also, Zurabyan clarified that they intend to achieve a peace that  will protect the foundations of an independent state,  the  Declaration of Independence and the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC).  "And we affirm that our internal issues, decisions, the Constitution  of Armenia, national symbols, and historiography are ours alone, and  no one can interfere in these matters," the politician added.

Zurabyan also assured that their party is neither pro-Western nor  pro-Russian. "Our position on this issue is as follows: Armenia must  cooperate with the entire world. That is, we are ready to cooperate  with anyone who has no intention of harming us or using our country  as a battlefield. We will not allow this. Therefore, at the core of  our election platform is the concept of Armenia as a bridge for  peace," Zurabyan concluded.