Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said there is only one way to put an end to the “formers versus currents” debate in the country: the Strong Armenia party led by Samvel Karapetyan, the Armenia Alliance led by former President Robert Kocharyan and Prosperous Armenia Party should not enter parliament in the upcoming elections.

Pashinyan made the remarks in parliament.

Pashinyan called out the opposition for clocking in during debates and then leaving, a tactic he said is used to keep their payrolls. He added that the opposition began attending the session after he called them out the previous day.

“Opposition MPs come to register at parliamentary sessions in order to keep receiving salaries. For eight years, we have been accused of receiving salary bonuses, but they themselves secretly register and leave just to earn a few extra drams. As a result, I noted this and made it public, and they were forced to come and participate in the speech phase,” he said.

The prime minister added that participation in the session’s speech segment once again led to a “former vs. current” political debate, noting that he has repeatedly stated the need to move beyond this narrative.

He further stated that the 2026 parliamentary elections are the “last chance for the coalition of the years of Robert Kocharyan’s and Serzh Sargsyan’s rule.”

“This further highlights the need to overcome the ‘former-current’ confrontation. It is now clear that there is only one way to do this: in the 2026 parliamentary elections, the ‘Strong Armenia’ party, the ‘Armenia’ alliance and Prosperous Armenia Party must fail to cross the electoral threshold to enter parliament. And with each passing day, this becomes a more realistic political objective,” the prime minister said.

The “formers versus currents” debate has been a recurring narrative in Armenian domestic politics since the 2018 Velvet Revolution, reflecting a sharp divide between Pashinyan’s government and the earlier administrations of second and third presidents Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan. The largest parliamentary opposition force, known as the Armenia Alliance, is led by Kocharyan. Meanwhile, business tycoon Samvel Karapetyan is Strong Armenia’s candidate for prime minister in the June 7 elections. Pashinyan has repeatedly described Karapetyan, Kocharyan, as well as another opposition figure and business magnate Gagik Tsarukyan as the “tripartite war party.” Meanwhile, Sargsyan has said his Republican Party would skip the elections.