Former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has accused the country's authorities of stealing 60,000 votes from the opposition "Prosperous Armenia" party in the June 7 parliamentary elections, Zartonk reported.
Kocharyan's accusations are directly related to the Central Election Commission (CEC)'s cancellation of election results in three polling stations, which left the opposition "Prosperous Armenia" party outside the parliament.
After the parliamentary elections in Armenia, held on June 7, 2026, the political crisis in the country deepened due to accusations of mass fraud and subsequent judicial repression.
The Central Election Commission declared the election results of three specific sections invalid. Before this decision, the “Prosperous Armenia” party (led by businessman Gagik Tsarukyan) had passed the threshold.
After the correction and the annulment of the protocols, the party was left with 3.9893% of the total vote. It fell just 0.004% short of the legal threshold of 4% for independent parties (approximately under 100 votes nationwide).
Robert Kocharyan, who heads another opposition force – The "Armenia" bloc criticized the decision as an artificial "throwaway" of the party. Since it received a total of 58,287 votes in the final count, Kocharyan claims that by canceling the sections, the authorities have erased and "stole" the will of these nearly 60,000 voters so that the opposition does not receive additional mandates.
According to the final data of the Central Election Commission of Armenia, the new composition of the parliament includes only three political forces: "Civil Contract" (the pro-European ruling party of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan) - 49.75% (64 mandates out of a total of 101, ensuring an independent government). "Strong Armenia" bloc (led by pro-Russian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan) - 23.27% (29 seats). Bloc “Armenia“ (led by former President Robert Kocharyan) – 9.92% (12 seats).
A total of six opposition forces, including the blocs of Kocharyan, Karapetyan and the party “Prosperous Armenia“, officially rejected the results and filed complaints with the Constitutional Court with a request to cancel or hold a second round.
On June 17, the Central Election Commission of Armenia met behind closed doors and stripped Robert Kocharyan of his parliamentary immunity at the request of the Prosecutor General's Office. Charges are being prepared against him for corruption, money laundering and abuse of power. Before his immunity was lifted, authorities stopped Kocharyan at Yerevan airport as he attempted to travel to Russia for a private visit.
Prime Minister Pashinyan harshly commented on the incident in a public video, telling his rivals "not to rush to pack their bags." A number of political activists and candidates from the opposition blocs "Strong Armenia" and "Armenia" were detained on charges of organizing vote-buying schemes.
The opposition characterized Pashinyan's actions as "political vendetta," a usurpation of power, and repression aimed at neutralizing dissatisfaction with the election results. International observers from the OSCE noted that despite a relatively peaceful election day, the mass arrests of opposition figures before the vote created a sense of electoral justice.