The Other Side of the Vagharshapat Elections

What happened in Vagharshapat can hardly be described as an ordinary local government election. The reason is that nationwide elections are coming up this June, and Vagharshapat is one of the opposition’s strongest bases, if not the strongest.

What does the opposition have in Vagharshapat? The influence of the Catholicos and his family, rather well-functioning ARF structures, the mobilization of the forces of Robert Kocharyan’s supporters, the open support of the “Mer dzevov” (“In Our Style”) movement, the presence of the families and close circles of Manvel Grigoryan and Seyran Saroyan, and the active participation of Artur Vanetsyan and Andranik Tevanyan, with active financial resources.

Despite this mobilization, the Civil Contract Party won. Why? The point is that the one who voted with his conscience and mind won the elections, in other words, those who had no personal gain or expectation tied to Civil Contract’s victory.

The decisive votes in the elections were the votes of those who perceive Civil Contract as a party of peace and development, and the opposition as a party of war and unfair relations.

Strange as it may seem, this is the reality. With their statements, their bellicose statements and their past record, the opposition forces helped Civil Contract secure a fairly confident victory. A victory that may, however, turn into a disservice to Civil Contract itself if they do not undertake deep analysis in order not to repeat the mistake made by the Pan-Armenian National Movement (HHSh) in 1995. For now, the risk is high that 1995 may be repeated in 2026.