Opposition figure warns of authoritarian drift in Armenia ahead of elections

Narek Karapetyan, a senior member of the opposition Strong Armenia party, accused the government of edging toward authoritarian rule as campaigning for the June parliamentary elections launched in Armenia on Friday.

Karapetyan emphasized the historic nature of the vote, noting that the party’s candidate for prime minister, businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan, is participating in the campaign while under house arrest. “It is a historic moment, a historic choice, because the main opposition leader is engaging in the campaign from confinement,” he told reporters outside the National Assembly, adding that public addresses would be delivered from his residence.

He charged that the Pashinyan administration, which rose to power pledging justice, has instead jailed its political opponents on political charges. Karapetyan warned that the government’s trajectory resembled dictatorial practices. “This man is turning into a dictator,” he declared. “What he will do if he achieves even limited success in the elections is only the beginning. The people will feel the scent of the harshest Soviet-style repressions.”

Karapetyan further alleged that hundreds of employees have been dismissed for political reasons and criticized the government’s admission of wiretapping officials. “No state official has the right to be in opposition? They are building a police state,” he said.