Ruling "Civil Contract" party to  run for 2026 elections  independently

ArmInfo.  Chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Alen Simonyan categorically disagrees with the claims of the government opponents that Armenia is sliding towards totalitarianism.  In a conversation with journalists on May 8, the speaker recalled that the country was ranked 34th place in the world ranking of freedom of expression. "Totalitarianism and  freedom of speech are incompatible, this cannot be," Simonyan noted.

In response to the question of how one can assess the authorities'  reaction to the actions of their like-minded people in the Nor-Nork  administrative district, where the head of the district  administration Tigran Ter- Margaryan and his supporters beat up  public activist Artur Chakhoyan, the speaker suggested reaching out  to the Republic party, as Ter-Margaryan is its member. "Both the  mayor of Yerevan and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia  have already stated that  the Republic party  should take  responsibility, and there will still be consequences. They may not be  right now, but they will occur. In any case, if the Republic party  does not take political responsibility for what happened, it will  nullify the high results it received in the elections for the Yerevan  Council of Elders. The party will have the opposite effect," the  speaker emphasized, highlighting the importance of the prefect's  resignation. However, Simonyan supported the party's statement on  this incident. According to him, it is obvious that there are people  who, under the guise of bloggers, are trying to solve issues set from  outside. Yesterday's events in the National Assembly of the Republic  of Armenia are a continuation of this incident,  aimed at destroying  the ruling "Civil Contract" party. "After failing to do so in the  2021 elections, are they trying to do it now?"   the NA Chairman  asked. He also added that the ruling party "Civil Contract" is  preparing to participate in the 2026 elections independently, without  forming a coalition. Simonyan expressed confidence that  the party  will once again receive the support of the absolute majority of  voters in these elections.