The year 2026 has not wasted time to jump straight into action. As the president of Venezuela is abducted before the eyes of the world, and as thousands die in unprecedented street protests and clashes in another country – one of Armenia’s two still open neighbours – while it remains in the sights of a powerful armada, Her Majesty Farce remains firmly in power in Armenia. As the shabby journalist Pashinyan attempts to reincarnate himself as a theologian while undermining the Armenian Church; as his wife mocks the Chinese language; as loyal oligarchs seek new niches for Azerbaijani imports; and as both parliamentary and most extra-parliamentary ‘opposition’ simulate concern, it is left to sensible, nationally oriented people to articulate a new path for Armenians and Armenia.
However, in order to talk about possible trajectories of change, one must first state that Armenia is neither ‘parliamentary’ nor a ‘republic’, it is a feudal clan creature.
Having learned the hard way, we are convinced that fundamental change from within the completely rotten ‘political’ system of the Third Republic is impossible, if the same toolkit is used that is propagated by the same rotten ‘political’ system. The transfer of power in 2018 did not strengthen the army, did not strengthen the state, did not curb budget embezzlement, did not slow population outflow, did not dismantle oligarchic dominance, did not improve conditions for small businesses, did not halt environmentally destructive mass construction, did not improve healthcare or the education system.
The ‘elections’ of 2021, conducted after the catastrophic capitulation in the war for the Armenian world and the effective loss of control over Artsakh, have made it unmistakably clear what awaits us in the ‘elections’ of 2026.
The very three forces responsible for that tragic outcome made then their way into the ‘parliament’. The only one missing was Levon Ter-Petrossian, who set in motion the disintegration of the Third Republic and the squandering of the gains of Artsakh’s liberation.
The constitutional ‘suit’ tailor-made by Serzh Sargsyan allows incumbent ruling parties (endowed with administrative resources) to form a government – even with the narrowest of margins. This is not merely an all-powerful-prime-ministerial constitution with a vulnerable civil service, but a system in which the entire law-enforcement apparatus is placed at the disposal of the Turkish satrap – enabling not only arrest of undesirable figures, but also obstruction of inconvenient parties’ registration. Add to this the intense propaganda of recent years, high parliamentary entry thresholds, excessive campaign contributions, and the strict regulation of party finances selectively imposed on rivals, and it becomes clear that the outcome of 2026 is unlikely to be any less deplorable than that of 2021.
It should come as no surprise that, in absence of any meaningful political discourse and realistic opportunities for small parties, Armenian parties and movements are curated in 99.9 per cent of cases by external centres of power and big business – which itself is deeply embedded in agency networks. Truly ‘new’ forces are simply precluded from competing with either the former or current vassals in terms of access to finance and the administrative-repressive apparatus. The result is a proliferation of hopeless ‘contenders’ whose marginal votes are ultimately redistributed in favour of the eventual winner – the Civil Contract party of the Turkish satrap Pashinyan. At best, these political dwarfs contribute nothing of value to Armenia, merely working off the currency they have been given or making up the numbers. At worst, they do real harm by advancing hostile agenda and selling their loyalty and votes. A similar pattern of sabotage was on display after the 2023 Yerevan City Council elections when imitating oppositionaries Republic and Public Voice backed Tigran Avinyan’s candidacy (former first deputy prime minister of Pashinyan).
But what should those do who do not want to become complicit in this farce? To begin with, it should be noted that elections as a genuine mechanism for peaceful transfer of power have not existed in Armenia since 1996.
By refusing to participate in such ‘elections’, we are boycotting a system that has nothing to do with Armenia and Armenian interests.
The desire to use ‘our ballot’ so that it would not be filled out for us is understandable. In a noble impulse, many people may even consider signing up as observers to personally ensure that each voter receives only the required ballot, and does so only once. However, it is important to understand two things. Firstly, the reported violations did not alarm international observers in 2021. Secondly, the main violations these days occur before elections, even in the most authoritarian countries, in the form of:
a) non-admission to elections,
b) denigrating opponents in media,
c) using state budget for self-promotion (some kindergartens are already opening for the second time, while on New Year’s Eve Armenians watched Pashinyan’s gestures performed by drones in the sky over Yerevan),
d) not providing equal airtime on public channels,
e) circumventing laws on party financing (recall how in 2023 ordinary citizens discovered that transfers to Civil Contract were made on their behalf), etc.
Thus, by addressing only largely technical violations, you do not gain any real advantage; instead, you implicitly accept the rules of the game under which these so-called ‘elections’ are conducted, enabling them to be perceived as fair.
Besides, it is evident that effective elections are impossible where there are no real parties. All this time, every few years, what we have witnessed has not been a contest of programs and goals, but a replay of an imitation of competition between politicians, constantly changing sides. Regardless of the results of the ‘elections’, people inside this system – whether ‘former’ or current – find a common language, one way or another, and we do not see any substantive changes: Armenia had consistently rejected the concept of Miatsum (reunification with Artsakh); it remains a colony and only alternates and combines its metropolises and masters; Pashinyan did not change Serzh Sargsyan’s constitution, contrary to his own promises; Robert Kocharyan stripped citizens of the right to vote abroad, and Pashinyan seems only too content with this state of affairs; the governance remains corrupt, ineffective and unaccountable; Only the cast of characters changes – and even that comes with a promise of their return.
A parliament building can be built in such a feudal clan formation, but the culture of parliamentarism cannot develop there. There are no parties or programs – only ‘Levon’, ‘Rob’, ‘Serge’, and ‘Nikol’.
What does Armenia need elections for, besides imitating statehood and democracy? In absence of checks and balances, of institutions of accountability and reputation, ‘elections’ are the only feedback channel between government and society. In opinion polls, the Turkish satrap and his masters see that about two thirds of the Armenian population quite rightly distrust any ‘political’ force. On the other hand, on social media, they see swarms of their own fakes, bots and trolls, who shout hysterically to deafen this deadly silent acceptance. Naturally, the mediocre journalist prefers the image on Facebook and Instagram, where Russian users react with unrestrained enthusiasm to his music videos. It is to this picture that his Young Janissaries will tailor the ‘reality’ to in the ‘elections’.
And here it is critically important to understand something else. Alas, due to the reasons elaborated above, on the sterilised political landscape called Republic of Armenia, the Civil Contract of the Turkish satrap Pashinyan has the support of up to about 20% of the residents, and, at the moment, according to polls, on this sterilised political landscape, there is no other force capable of competing against this benchmark. The victory of the Young Janissaries in these self-staged ‘elections’ with observers from the lame and tamed ‘civil society’ is beyond doubt. Our conscience and common sense will, of course, not allow us to call for voting for ‘parties’ that follow them by a wide margin. To re-elect Pashinyan’s political parents is to admit that 35 years have taught us absolutely nothing.
So, what does the satrap need to keep on the rose-tinted glasses of his own augmented reality and to continue to faithfully serve his Turkish masters? Two things: the appearance of legitimacy and the physical ability to continue serving.
The appearance of legitimacy of the Turkish colonisation will be ensured precisely by the turnout, since thereby the elimination of the Armenian statehood will be attributed to Armenian citizens, and not solely to the collaborationists ensconced in the government.
We have witnessed this several times: the Turkish satrap and his Young Janissaries constantly justify their failures by saying that ‘it is the people’. In 2021, their programme included the liberation of Shushi and Hadrut, while in 2023, it were the Armenians of Artsakh to blame for being deported from the remnants of Artsakh – while the Turkish satrapy in Yerevan watched silently. The unconditional surrender, for which no one gave them a ‘mandate’ in 2021, is now being presented as the embodiment of ‘the will of the people’. Similarly, nobody gave any mandate to the ‘velvet’ revolutionary on 8 May 2018, the first day after appointment as prime minister by Serge Sargsyan’s ‘parliament’, to gallop to Stepanakert and ‘provoke’ the Azerbaijani-Turkish masters to predictable moves. Was it worth going and voting even ‘against’, so that today’s pretending ‘opposition’ deputies legitimise the sale of Armenia and Armenian symbols with their presence? The question is rhetorical.
Thus, by participating in these elections, we only render ourselves complicit in the treason and failures of both the current government and the so-called ‘opposition’. Whether we have both the ‘former’ and the ‘current’ ones in the ‘parliament’, the creeping occupation of Armenia has not stopped, Armenians have not stopped losing their homes and pastures, the people of Artsakh have not preserved their homes and have not received decent support in Mother Armenia.
A syndicate of the government and the ‘opposition’ has seized the Armenian state. It is impossible to outplay them by playing by their own rules.
For us, the only way to demonstrate that this zoo of beasts of the Third Republic does not speak for our people is to boycott its next grand opening on ‘election’ day on 7 June 2026.
If only 10% of Armenian citizens come to the polls, it will be impossible to ignore us.
This is the only way their bubble will burst, the only way everyone will finally see that the satrap is naked. Only then nobody will be able to build with him long-term plans aimed at dismantling the Armenian state.
