Armenian expert urges opposition to 'learn lessons' from Vagharshapat election loss

Legal expert Gohar Meloyan has warned that the opposition risks repeating its setbacks in next year’s parliamentary elections unless it draws “practical lessons” from the ruling party’s victory in the Vagharshapat municipal race.

Meloyan, head of the International Center on Development of Parliamentarism, said the vote drew little national attention compared with this year’s Gyumri elections, with the wider public engaging only after results were announced.

She said the ruling Civil Contract party’s victory was boosted by a summer merger of the Etchmiadzin and Voskehat communities into the larger Khoy cluster of 17 villages.

Civil Contract’s candidate, a former regional official and acting Vagharshapat mayor, held strong personal standing and benefited from administrative resources, helping secure 48.5% of the vote. Meloyan stressed that the more than 10,000 votes won by the opposition Victory bloc remained a significant achievement under the circumstances.

Meloyan dismissed the ruling party's claims of a landmark triumph. “Presenting this as a ‘great achievement’ after the depopulation of Artsakh is illogical and unserious,” she said.

She warned that the ruling party had clearly refined its methods after earlier elections in Gyumri and Parakar. “If the opposition wants to succeed in the upcoming national vote, it must also learn lessons and make practical adjustments,” the expert added.