Head of IPA CIS Council Secretariat: Extremely difficult atmosphere  during parliamentary elections campaign in Armenia accompanied by  mass arrests

ArmInfo.  The extremely difficult atmosphere during the campaign for the latest parliamentary elections in Armenia was accompanied by mass arrests, detentions, and insults.  Dmitry Kobitsky, Head of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat, stated this at a press conference on June 8.

He noted that this is the first time they have recorded such an  atmosphere during an election in over 30 years of monitoring  electoral processes. Furthermore, he noted that, compared to the 2021  snap parliamentary elections, during the 2026 parliamentary  elections, a large number of polling stations were located on the  second floors of buildings, preventing elderly and disabled voters  from accessing them.  "Furthermore, there were no provisions for  voting by people with disabilities who are generally housebound.  While home voting is a concept in all CIS countries, unfortunately,  it is not available in Armenia. Therefore, it is unclear how these  people were supposed to exercise their right to vote," Kobitsky  noted.

Artem Turov, a member of the Russian State Duma who is in Armenia as  an election observer, reported that there have been numerous reports  from participants in the electoral processes that the criminal cases  against opposition members and their detentions are a manifestation  of pressure-both administrative and political. "And it's worth noting  that these events even occurred on the 'Day of Silence,' which raises  certain questions," Turov noted. He also addressed complaints from  Armenian citizens regarding issues related to the voter lists. "Our  monitoring group visited 14 polling stations. Citizens received  questions regarding the voter lists. In particular, it was reported  that strangers unknown to them were registered in a number of  apartments and houses," the Russian State Duma deputy concluded. As a  reminder, regular parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on  June 7, 2026. According to preliminary data from the Central Election  Commission of Armenia, based on the vote count from all 2,005 polling  stations, Nikol Pashinyan's ruling Civil Contract party, Samvel  Karapetyan's Strong Armenia bloc, and second president Robert  Kocharyan's Armenia bloc have all qualified for parliament. The  remaining candidates scored below the required threshold of 4% for  parties and 8-10% for blocs. Turnout was 58.97%. A total of 1,476,597  citizens voted in the elections nationwide, out of a total of  2,505,228 eligible voters. It's worth noting that on election day,  observers and journalists reported numerous violations by the ruling  party during the voting process from early morning. Thus, Pashinyan's  party has the opportunity to single-handedly form the country's  government by securing a majority of seats in the Armenian  parliament. This was something he solemnly announced late at night,  when data from only about 10% of polling stations had been processed.