Strong Armenia party insists on new PM

A senior member of the Strong Armenia party said on Friday that the country’s prime minister should not serve a third term ahead of the June 7 parliamentary elections.

Narek Karapetyan made the remarks at a meeting with journalists, where he also raised concerns about the alleged interception and publication of conversations involving members of his political team by law enforcement authorities.

He warned that statements made by those engaged in a “fair and impartial struggle” risk being taken out of context and misrepresented.

“Participants in this struggle must keep in mind that their words can be extracted from context and presented in a distorted way,” Karapetyan said.

He stressed the importance of maintaining focus on the movement’s broader objectives, urging colleagues and supporters not to be distracted by controversy. “We must clearly understand what we are fighting for, where we are heading and properly value this struggle,” he said, noting that other party members had already addressed the issue publicly.

Karapetyan also rejected suggestions that certain recorded conversations constituted offers of electoral bribery, pointing to legal provisions regulating the registration of campaign agents and accusing critics of spreading misleading information.

“I have a strongly negative attitude toward vote-buying,” he said. “Distributing 30,000 drams to employees of an institution, promising jobs in exchange for support, or making appointments within the Electric Networks of Armenia to secure votes are unacceptable practices. I firmly oppose state patronage and electoral bribery.”

Karapetyan reiterated his party’s position on leadership, saying: “The prime minister of the country should not be the same individual for a third term.”