Pashinyan comments on Vagharshapat election win

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has attributed the ruling Civil Contract Party’s victory in the Vagharshapat municipal elections to what he described as contrasting messages from the current leadership and the opposition.

In a social media video on Tuesday, Pashinyan claimed Civil Contract prevailed because it campaigned on “life”, while the opposition focused on “apocalypse”.

“Much discussion is taking place about why the Civil Contract Party won in Vagharshapat and why the opposition lost,” Pashinyan said. “There is one overarching reason: the opposition spoke about apocalypse, while Civil Contract spoke about life. And people simply chose life.”

According to preliminary results, Civil Contract received 15,298 votes in Sunday’s election, while the opposition Victory bloc garnered 10,051.

Pashinyan argued that the result may foreshadow broader political dynamics ahead of Armenia’s 2026 parliamentary elections, adding that Armenians "have left the apocalypse in the past”.