Armenia’s Constitutional Court has rejected opposition demands to annul the official results of the June 7 parliamentary elections, clearing the way for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party to retain power despite widespread allegations of fraud, political persecution, and the use of administrative pressure against opponents.
The court’s decision, announced Saturday, dismissed separate appeals filed by six opposition forces that challenged the legitimacy of the vote. The opposition had accused election officials of miscounting ballots, authorities of pressuring public sector employees and security personnel to vote for Civil Contract, and law enforcement bodies of targeting opposition figures and supporters before, during, and after election day.
Strong Armenia, led by Samvel Karapetyan, had also asked the court to consider ordering a second-round vote between Civil Contract and Strong Armenia. That request was also rejected.
According to the official results, Civil Contract received 49.8 percent of the vote, followed by Strong Armenia with 23.3 percent, the Hayastan Alliance led by former President Robert Kocharyan with nearly 10 percent, and Gagik Tsarukyan’s Prosperous Armenia Party with nearly 4 percent.
The most controversial element of the final results involved Prosperous Armenia, which fell just short of the threshold required to enter parliament after the Central Election Commission cancelled results in three precincts and refused to hold repeat elections there. Opposition representatives argued that the decision effectively transferred seats that would have gone to Prosperous Armenia into the ruling party’s column, helping Civil Contract secure the 60 percent parliamentary majority needed to pass key legislation and appoint senior law enforcement officials and judges.
Aram Orbelian, representing Prosperous Armenia, said the court should have at least awarded the party five seats in the 105-member parliament. Opposition representatives sharply criticized the ruling, saying the court had failed to stop what they described as the theft of the vote.
The ruling party, for its part, denied the fraud allegations and claimed that opposition forces themselves had engaged in vote buying. Civil Contract representatives hailed the court’s decision as a victory for justice.
Yet the court’s decision comes amid a broader political climate in which many opposition figures and activists have been arrested on charges they reject as politically motivated. During European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s visit to Yerevan, opposition activists protested the EU’s continued support for Pashinyan, accusing Brussels of ignoring the Armenian government’s campaign against political opponents.
Riot police blocked protesters from approaching the government building where von der Leyen met with Pashinyan. Demonstrators held photos of jailed opposition figures and accused the EU of praising a government that has filled Armenia’s prisons with political detainees while presenting itself internationally as democratic and pro-European.
Opposition activists pointed to the arrests of figures such as Avetik Chalabyan of Hayakve, Andranik Tevanyan of Mayr Hayastan, and Armen Ashotyan of the Republican Party, as well as the detention of hundreds of Strong Armenia members and supporters in recent months. The authorities insist that none of the detainees are political prisoners.
The EU has continued to publicly support Pashinyan’s government. Von der Leyen praised Armenia’s election outcome, saying Armenians had chosen democracy and the rule of law. Opposition figures argue that such statements ignore the realities inside Armenia and reward Pashinyan for aligning with the West while democratic standards deteriorate at home.
At the same time, Pashinyan has moved quickly to shape the leadership of the new parliament. In a surprise decision, Civil Contract’s governing board chose Ruben Rubinyan, currently a deputy speaker and Armenia’s envoy in normalization talks with Turkey, to replace outgoing Speaker Alen Simonyan.
Simonyan said he did not know why the party leadership decided to remove him from the post and indicated that he had not been given an explanation. He said he did not consider the move a punishment and insisted he would remain loyal to Pashinyan, declaring that he would always stand by the prime minister’s side “half a step behind.” Simonyan also said he would not take up his seat in the new National Assembly and did not expect to hold public office in the near future.
The choice of Rubinyan has fueled speculation that Pashinyan is seeking to send a signal to Turkey at a time of heightened regional tensions and shifting foreign policy alignments. Rubinyan has represented Armenia in talks with Ankara, and Turkish envoy Serdar Kilic quickly congratulated him on his new role.
Taken together, the Constitutional Court ruling, the EU’s embrace of Pashinyan despite opposition arrests, and the elevation of Rubinyan mark a decisive new phase in Armenia’s post-election crisis. Pashinyan has now secured institutional cover for a disputed election, preserved a powerful parliamentary majority, and begun reorganizing the state’s political leadership around his next agenda.
For the opposition, the challenge now is whether it can transform legal defeat into political resistance. Strong Armenia has proposed the creation of a coordinating council among leading opposition forces, and many opposition supporters have urged elected blocs to consider refusing their parliamentary mandates in order to deny legitimacy to the new National Assembly.
But unless Armenia’s opposition forces can unite around a clear strategy, Pashinyan will move forward with the advantages of state power, international backing, and a parliamentary majority produced by an election that nearly half the country — and the organized opposition — continues to reject as deeply flawed.
