Stop the fraudulent election — before it happens

By Vahe Andonian

As Armenia approaches the upcoming elections, one fact must be stated without hesitation: a fraudulent election is already being prepared, and its outcome, carefully engineered with external support, is being safeguarded by forces hostile to Armenian national survival.

Nikol and his circle are not an authority that emerged organically from Armenian national life. As early as the summer of 2018, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation consistently warned that this administration had been brought to power with the backing of external, anti-Armenian forces—under the language of “reforms,” but in reality with an agenda aimed at weakening Armenia’s sovereignty, dismantling national institutions, and normalizing defeat.

Today, those warnings have become a visible reality.

Foreign-funded financial flows are increasingly concentrated within pro-government political, media, and so-called “civil society” structures. Media outlets under state control have nearly monopolized the public space, while coordinated propaganda networks impose a single, uniform narrative. Internal security and police forces are increasingly used to enforce political obedience. Opposition figures are subjected to selective arrests, prolonged detention, and judicial persecution—measures that are not justice, but intimidation. Armenia is gradually taking on the characteristics of an administrative police state, where coercion replaces free political competition.

This system of control has recently received an explicit state and financial expression. According to publicly available information, approximately 3 billion drams—around 8 million dollars—collected from citizens’ taxes were, by a top-secret order of Pashinyan, distributed as bonuses to secure electoral influence. This is no longer a matter of political interpretation; it is state-level vote-buying, whereby elections cease to be a democratic process and become a pre-planned deception.

This system of control is now being codified into law. In an extraordinary session of the National Assembly, Nikol and his team rushed through amendments to the Electoral Code that severely restrict independent election observation, circulating the draft barely a day in advance and forcing it through under a 24-hour procedure. The changes were made without consultation with the opposition, domestic observer organizations, civil society, or international bodies such as the OSCE and the Venice Commission.

The opposition “Hayastan” (Armenia) alliance boycotted the session, warning that the amendments are designed to purge elections of independent scrutiny and replace it with loyal, government-aligned “observers.” ARF MP Artsvik Minasyan warned that under these rules, observers—and potentially journalists—could lose accreditation for assessments deemed politically inconvenient. This is not reform; it is the legal engineering of a controlled election.

When Pashinyan recently claimed that his powers and responsibilities are unclear, he was simply confessing his inability to govern the state. The law and the Constitution are clear. A government that does not recognize its constitutional obligations cannot organize fair elections, and under such conditions, elections become a pre-programmed fraud. In such circumstances, silence becomes complicity.

Under these conditions, silence is not only complicity but also political irresponsibility. Nationally responsible forces are obliged to adopt a clear position and take decisive action. Proceeding from this reality, the 29th (extraordinary) General Assembly of the ARF Armenia Organization, convened on January 13, 2026, declared that the removal of the current ruling group is imperative to preserve Armenian statehood and to build a new-quality national state. In this context, the Assembly decided to participate in the 2026 National Assembly elections in an alliance format, with the goal of preventing the reproduction of the current regime.

The authorities’ feigned concern over “sovereignty” and “foreign interference” was once again exposed in the response of ARF Armenia Supreme Body representative, Ishkhan Saghatelyan, to a statement by a Russian political commentator. While unequivocally condemning any statement or action directed against the sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia—regardless of its source—he simultaneously raised a question the authorities deliberately avoid answering: are you prepared to respond with the same severity not only to isolated remarks, but also to officials who for years have practically threatened Armenia’s sovereignty?

For years, the authorities have loudly condemned isolated statements, yet remain silent in the face of direct and ongoing threats by senior Azerbaijani and Turkish officials—threats that openly question Armenia’s territorial integrity and interfere in the country’s internal affairs. This selective “outrage” reveals a dangerous double standard.

Turkey’s foreign minister recently publicly expressed support for Pashinyan ahead of the upcoming elections, presenting his “leading position” as something to be preserved. When Turkey so openly positions itself within Armenia’s internal electoral process—within the framework of a coordinated “peace” agenda with Azerbaijan—foreign interference is no longer a suspicion, but a fact.

This logic of control also extends into the moral and national sphere. On Armenian Christmas—a day symbolizing national unity and spiritual continuity—the public witnessed a deliberate provocation organized by the authorities. The mocking attitude toward the Cross and Christian symbols, and the belittling of church traditions, were not accidental missteps but conscious attempts to undermine the spiritual unity of the Armenian people.

At the same time, voices carrying moral and national authority are being deliberately silenced. The Armenian Apostolic Church—an institution that has been the backbone of Armenian identity for over 1,700 years—is under continuous pressure. This campaign against sanctity, tradition, and spiritual authority is not accidental; it is planned.

State resources and regime-affiliated structures are increasingly being used in the Diaspora as well, to monitor, discredit, and silence voices—undermining the all-Armenian unity of Armenia–Artsakh–Diaspora. The objective is clear: before the elections, dismantle all independent moral, spiritual, and national pillars of Armenian society.

These are not isolated incidents.
Together, they form a system in which power is preserved not through popular consent, but through coercion, propaganda control, and external patronage.

This is not a democratic competition.
This is externally organized internal subjugation.

And it is with this awareness that the fraudulent election must be stopped—now, not later—before the dismantling of Armenian statehood becomes irreversible. When elections are engineered, oversight is silenced, and foreign adversaries openly signal their preferred outcome, inaction is no longer neutrality; it is surrender. To allow this process to proceed unchecked is not a political error, but participation in the managed destruction of Armenia.