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Supporters gather at Congress Hotel in Yerevan to hear the Armenia Alliance’s socio-economic plan on Apr. 8

The Armenia Alliance presented its socio-economic platform during an event held on Wednesday at the Congress Hotel in Yerevan.

The alliance, headed by former president Robert Kocharian and including the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, is running as an opposition bloc in the upcoming June 7 elections.

The two lawmakers, Arthur Khachatryan and Artsvik Minasyan, who made presentations said that if elected, the Armenia Alliance will reduce taxes, create a more beneficial environment for the growth of the agriculture sector and will increase pensions.

Khachatryan warned that the rosy economic outlook depicted by the current regime has largely relied on debt, arguing that if these policies continue, future generations would have to bear the burden of the mounting debt.

“The economic growth they [the current regime] is showing is a result of debt. In eight years, Armenia’s debt has doubled, reaching $15 billion,” Khachatryan said, adding that this burden will fall on everyone, including newborns, with an average of $5,000 debt per citizen.

He noted that Armenia’s current economic growth is largely based on services and retail trade, while exports are mainly driven by gold, diamonds, mining, brandy, and tobacco.

“Where is our industrial potential? Where is the high-tech industry praised by this government?,” Khachatryan countered.

He said that beginning on June 8, the policies of the Armenia Alliance will focus on reviving industry, creating an economy by elevating the tech sector and building on competitive advantages.

Khachatryan then turned his attention to what he deemed by the deterioration of the agricultural sector under Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s leadership, arguing that “Armenia needs a competitive and prosperous agricultural sector.”

“We have gone back 25 years. With a single stroke of a pen, the Ministry of Agriculture was dismantled. More than half of our arable land is not being cultivated. And yet they [the government] proudly say we imported sub-par wheat from Kazakhstan. This cannot continue,” he emphasized.

According to Khachatryan, the alliance’s policies will aim to increase agricultural profitability, ensure food security, and improve quality of life in rural areas. “You can’t walk in a village without boots. People must remain in villages and strengthen our borders,” he said.

He noted that land plots are currently too small, making cultivation expensive and inefficient.

“We will promote cooperation and land consolidation while preserving ownership rights,” Khachatryan explained, adding that the state will support farmers in acquiring high-quality seeds, saplings, and livestock. Since agriculture is knowledge-based, farmers will also receive support to expand their knowledge of the sector.

He explained that the Alliance’s program will include up to 15 million drams in preferential loans with zero interest, cheaper fuel and seeds, improved water resource management, and support for sales and exports. Strategic products will also be guaranteed favorable prices.

Minasyan, the other presenter and a current lawmaker, focused on social aspects that, he said, had hindered the economy.

“The current difficult social situation is not only due to external factors or psychological conditions. It is also the result of deep social problems that this government has created and continues to reinforce. One of the causes is the clearly unequal distribution of income,” Minasyan explained.

He noted that incomes of vulnerable groups are clearly lagging behind rising costs of living.

“Not only are prices of essential food, medicine, and utilities rising sharply, but property taxes and public transport fares are also increasing. Hundreds of thousands of citizens are faced daily with difficult choices—whether to pay for heating or essential medication with their limited income,” Minasyan said.

He argued that these policies have created social polarization, and vowed to eliminate it under the Armenia Alliance programs.
“The minimum wage will be aligned with the minimum living basket and will be indexed—meaning it will automatically increase each year at least in line with inflation, by law, not political will. The basic pension will increase by at least 50 percent and will also be indexed to inflation. During winter months, gas and electricity costs will be fully subsidized for socially vulnerable single pensioners, extremely poor families, and families with children,” Minasyan said.

“We will reduce property tax. The excessively high increase planned for 2026 will be canceled, and a luxury tax will be introduced—meaning the wealthy will pay more to ease the burden on low- and middle-income citizens. Social solidarity will be restored through fair income redistribution,” he said, adding that universal income declaration will also be abolished.

He noted that Armenian capital worldwide is estimated at around $400 billion, and through a proposed “Multi-purpose Fund,” attracting just five percent of it could significantly contribute to national development.

Addressing healthcare, Minasyan said that while the current insurance system has created issues for both doctors and patients, the alliance plans to improve it without dismantling it.

“We are here to further strengthen family protection. Under the ‘Family Growth Model,’ income tax will decrease by an additional two percent for each child after the second,” he said.

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YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—Armenia’s human rights defender appeared to add her voice on Thursday to growing calls for the release of a high school student who was arrested on March 29 after confronting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in a church in Yerevan.

The 18-year-old man, Davit Minasyan, remained, meanwhile, in hospital in what his lawyers described as serious condition.

Minasyan was arrested and charged with hooliganism and obstruction of Pashinyan’s “political activities” after an incident that marred a Plam Sunday Mass in St. Anne’s Church. The church was packed with worshippers when Pashinyan unexpectedly arrived there with his bodyguards who cleared the way for his passage. A visibly annoyed Minasyan told them not to push him and said he wants to keep “standing in the middle” of the church.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he then told Pashinyan before stretching a hand toward his shoulder.

Minasyan was punched and knocked down by one of the bodyguards as Pashinyan left the church amid angry cries from other believers. His twin brother Mikael and another man were also detained and indicted afterwards. But they both were freed pending investigation.

Davit Minasyan was rushed to Yerevan’s Nairi Medical Center on April 3 hospital after reportedly passing out at a juvenile institution just north of the Armenian capital. Only his lawyers have been allowed to visit him there. According to them, he was injured in the head and suffered concussion in the church.

“I visited him this morning,” one of the lawyers, Lusine Martirosyan, told reporters. “He complained of headaches. I tried my best not to disturb him. He said he wants to sleep all the time.”

Martirosyan spoke as a group of Minasyan’s sympathizers gathered outside the Office of the Prosecutor-General to demand an urgent meeting with Prosecutor-General Anna Vardapetyan and hand her a letter signed by 150 people demanding the student’s release. Vardapetyan refused to receive them.

A similar petition circulated online earlier has been signed by thousands of other Armenians. Anahit Manasyan, the human rights ombudsman installed by the country’s current leadership, insisted as recently as on Wednesday that she has no legal authority to also call for the student’s release from custody.

In an apparent change of heart, Manasyan said on Thursday: “Taking into account the documents available regarding the suspect’s health condition, issues related to his right to education etc., I myself have also suggested that an alternative measure of deterrence [for the student] be considered.”

Pashinyan and his political allies have defended Minasyan’s arrest, saying that the student assaulted the prime minister. Armenian opposition figures counter, however, that the church incident was the result of what they see as Pashinyan’s provocative behavior. They claim that Pashinyan ordered the arrest in a bid to intimidate disgruntled Armenians ahead of the June 7 parliamentary elections.

Pashinyan has spent the past several weekends touring various parts of the country and talking to people on what looked like election campaign trips. Some of those citizens caused him to lose his temper by openly denouncing his policies or complaining about his government’s track record.

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Successive Amendments to Electoral Code Appear Politicized and Undermine Public Trust in Democratic Process

YEREVAN — Recent amendments to Armenia’s Electoral Code adopted ahead of the June 2026 parliamentary elections that prohibit the use of personal names appear designed to disadvantage the “Strong Armenia” political opposition party and further undermine a fair and competitive electoral process, said the International Observatory for Democracy in Armenia. IODA urged the government to cancel or delay any apparently politicized amendments at least until after the election of a new government.

“These hasty electoral amendments smack of a naked ploy to disadvantage Armenia’s leading opposition political party, ‘Strong Armenia,’ by effectively requiring them to change the party’s well-known name just months before the elections,” said Sarah Leah Whitson. “The government and the ruling party have once again reached into their bag of tricks to tilt the election in its favor.”

On 7 April, the National Assembly adopted the amendments proposed by three members of the Civil Contract faction: Arusyak Julhakyan, Alkhas Ghazaryan, and Artur Hovhannisyan, restricting the naming of electoral blocs. The passed changes prohibit the use of personal names, as well as names or formulations resembling state and local self-government bodies, in bloc titles. The bill was adopted with 66 votes in favor, 16 against, and no abstentions, with support coming exclusively from members of the ruling Civil Contract faction. While authors presented the amendment as a technical adjustment, the timing and context of the amendment will affect specific political parties, including the “Strong Armenia with Samvel Karapetyan” bloc. In the pre-electoral period, any changes that may be seen as altering the conditions of political competition warrant particular scrutiny.

The government passed other problematic amendments to the Electoral Code on 24 January 2026 authorizing the Central Electoral Commission sole discretion to deny or revoke accreditation for an election observation mission based on a determination that the mission is not “politically neutral.” Although ensuring impartiality in election observation is a legitimate objective, the absence of clearly defined criteria for assessing such neutrality introduces a degree of discretion that may give rise to inconsistent application.

It is also notable that the Assembly adopted these legislative changes through expedited procedures, without broad-based consultation with opposition parties, civil society organizations, or international partners. “The cumulative effect of the government’s changes to the Electoral Code is to undermine public trust in the fairness of the political process, particularly in the context of other controversial measures, including arrests of political actors and clergy, ahead of the elections,” said Kenneth Roth. “The most important thing the ruling party can and should do right now is take its fist off the political scales and ensure the public that Armenia’s democracy is safe from manipulation.”

The amendments to the Electoral Code also contravene the Venice Commission’s Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters, which underscores the importance of maintaining the stability of electoral legislation, and avoiding amendments for at least a year preceding elections. Changes to key aspects of the electoral framework at a late stage may affect both the perception and the reality of electoral integrity. IODA urged the government to suspend enforcement of any amendments to the Electoral Code until after the election and to ensure adequate time for review, discussion and consultation with civil society.

The IODA previously issued its concerns about the government’s conduct ahead of the elections, highlighting politicized arrests and prosecutions of political opponents and clergy members; unfounded allegations of foreign interference; and reliance on vague and overbroad provisions of the penal code, in a press conference in Yerevan on March 12. The organization plans to carry out a second on-the-ground investigation in Armenia in May and will issue its final conclusions and recommendations ahead of the elections.

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