Speaking at a press briefing in Yerevan following a weekly cabinet session, Pashinian accused his political opponents, without naming specific groups, of planning to revise the current peace with Azerbaijan if they win the vote.

“I want to say this very directly, without any pretense, that [if they do so] it will be a war with the loss of not only territory but also sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia,” he said.

Pashinian argued that some opposition figures campaigning ahead of the elections “probably don’t even understand what they are saying,” suggesting that their statements are influenced by external sources.

“All these forces are advocating a revision of peace, which means inevitable war very soon after the elections, in autumn the latest…. They are preparing a new September war with grave consequences,” he said.

The prime minister implicitly drew parallels with the 2020 and 2023 wars in Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as deadly clashes along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in 2022, all of which took place in September. Those hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh resulted in the defeat of Armenian forces by Azerbaijan, the subsequent loss of control over the region, and the exodus of its Armenian population. In 2022, Azerbaijan advanced into Armenia and, according to Yerevan, continues to occupy more than 200 square kilometers of sovereign Armenian territory.

Speaking of Azerbaijan’s military takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023, Pashinian recalled that it followed a change of government in the region that was welcomed by Armenia’s opposition at the time.

“Everything ended for Karabakh within days. Now the same forces want to do the same with the Republic of Armenia as a result of parliamentary elections. There is no difference whatsoever in their intentions,” Pashinian said.

Pashinian stated that his ruling Civil Contract party will seek a constitutional majority in the elections in order to make “regional peace irreversible.”

In this context, he reiterated his position that Armenia should remove from its constitution a reference to the 1990 Declaration of Independence, which cites a 1989 act on the unification of Soviet Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. He said that the declaration is “not about independence, but about conflict,” arguing that its removal from the constitution is part of Armenia’s own agenda.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly stated that Baku will not sign a peace treaty with Armenia, initialed last August, unless the reference is removed from Armenia’s constitution. Under Armenian law, such a change would require the adoption of a new constitution through a national referendum.

Opposition groups have criticized Pashinian’s stance, arguing that removing the reference to the Declaration of Independence from the constitution would amount to a unilateral concession to Azerbaijan and could lead to further demands without ensuring lasting peace.

They have also accused the prime minister of invoking the threat of war to bolster his political position, noting that Armenia has experienced several deadly conflicts during his time in office.

During the press briefing, Pashinian challenged his rivals, including Samvel Karapetian, the leader of the newly established Strong Armenia party, to go live on the internet and demonstrate his arguments publicly.

He appeared to gloat over the fact that, so far, Karapetian has been addressing his supporters through AI-generated videos.

Karapetian, a Russian-Armenian businessman, is currently under house arrest as part of an ongoing investigation into his remarks in support of the Armenian Apostolic Church that prosecutors have described as a “call for a violent overthrow of the government.” He rejects the accusations, as well as charges of tax evasion, fraud, and money laundering leveled against him, calling them politically motivated.

Pashinian said that Armenia’s Probation Service has officially confirmed that there are no restrictions preventing Karapetian from going live online.

“Let him go live online and say what he wants to say. When they bring up the issue of ‘strong’ and ‘weak,’ we need to understand what it is that makes them ‘strong’ and makes us ‘weak,’” the prime minister said, casting doubt on his critic’s ability to make a “coherent argument.”

“If these oligarchs can do 30 pull-ups, let them do it live on air. I can’t do 30 pull-ups, but I can ride a bicycle for 100 kilometers. What else are they good at? Intellect? Let them demonstrate their intellectual capacity and their vocabulary live on air,” Pashinian added.

Through its spokesperson, Karapetian’s Strong Armenia party responded to Pashinian’s remarks, attributing them to his “state of panic” and citing opinion polls that, the party claimed, show “he will leave office in two months.”

A spokeswoman for businessman Gagik Tsarukian, another likely contender in the upcoming elections, also dismissed Pashinian’s challenge, noting that “the former world arm-wrestling champion who keeps fit… won’t engage in competition with anyone.”

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