Hayastan came in a distant second with 21 percent of the vote in the last elections held in 2021. Kocharian announced last November that he will enter the forthcoming parliamentary race with essentially the same political team that might be joined by new opposition groups or figures. But he said it is not yet clear whether he will be the bloc’s candidate for Armenia’s prime minister.
Speaking on a YouTube podcast co-hosted by his political allies at the weekend, the 71-year-old ex-president implied that he will again vie for the top government post. Citing his past executive experience, he insisted that he can successfully deal with grave security challenges facing Armenia.
“We now need to position ourselves as a political force led by someone who did that a couple of times, who achieved quite serious success in crisis situations and can do that for a third time,” he said. “This should be our message to our voters.”
Opinion polls suggest that a recently established movement led by billionaire Samvel Karapetian has replaced Hayastan as the country’s most popular force. Kocharian acknowledged in that regard that his alliance has lost some of its popular support since 2021. But, he said, it has at the same time dented Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s popularity, paving the way for the emergence of new opposition heavyweights. Clearly singling out Karapetian, Kocharian insisted that he is more qualified to run the country than their leaders.
“The main question is: who can do that? A person who has proved that he can do that, a political team that has proved that it’s a fighter or totally new people who have that desire but not yet the [necessary] experience and have not yet proved their worth in the political struggle in practice?” he said.
Pashinian has repeatedly expressed confidence that his Civil Contract party will win the upcoming elections. Visiting Gyumri on Saturday, he declared that it is aiming for as much as 65 percent of the vote. Opposition figures and other government critics claim that Pashinian is actually afraid of losing the polls.
In recent weeks, senior Civil Contract members have exposed their apparent fears that opposition forces led by Kocharian, Karapetian and another wealthy businessman, Gagik Tsarukian, will collectively win a majority in the next Armenian parliament and be able to form a coalition government. Some of them have said that the Armenian authorities “will not allow” such an outcome, fueling opposition claims that they are planning electoral fraud or foul play.