Lawyer: The picture of the elections in Armenia should not bring joy to anyone concerned about the future of democracy

ArmInfo. The picture of the October 25 elections in Armenia should not bring joy to anyone concerned about the future of democracy. International lawyer Robert Amsterdam wrote about this on his Facebook page.

According to him, in many localities less than half of voters took part in the vote. "The authorities must ask themselves why so many citizens refuse to vote. Ignoring this fact and presenting the results as a general vote of confidence means not wanting to see their own citizens. And reports of voter manipulation, pressure, and the use of public funds for the benefit of the party require an independent investigation. Such actions violate the foundations of free elections and equal competition: citizens must be able to vote without fear, and the opposition must be able to compete without fear of action against them by the state apparatus. The detention of Arsen Gevorgyan, who headed the Strong Armenia party list, "The arrest in Stepanavan initially required a compelling legal justification. The authorities were obliged to justify both the necessity of the arrest and the impossibility of applying a more lenient measure. A criminal charge is not yet proof of guilt, and, accordingly, it cannot justify the de facto disqualification of a candidate from the elections," the lawyer noted.

He added that RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan cannot, on the one hand, restrict political competition, and on the other, present the results obtained as a result of this restriction as a democratic success, and then blame everyone but himself.

"This is not a story of victory." "This is a consequence of the political and electoral conditions created by Pashinyan, and he himself bears responsibility for this," concluded Robert Amsterdam.

Let us recall that on October 25, 2026, local government elections were held in 21 communities across 10 regions of Armenia. According to preliminary data from the Central Election Commission, the ruling Civil Contract party won in the majority of communities. In several large cities (Goris, Jermuk, Ijevan, Meghri, Dilijan, Hrazdan, Tsaghkadzor, and others), the ruling party and its allies garnered between 48% and more than 96% of the vote. In Yeghegnadzor, Civil Contract (48.06%) only narrowly beat the Republic Party (46.86%). Voting at 517 polling stations was conducted using electronic registration systems. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called the results a resounding victory. The opposition claimed a lack of equal competition and pressure on candidates, including detentions in several regions. Observers and the Ministry of Internal Affairs recorded several dozen reports of violations (mostly related to the secrecy of the vote).