Armenia's ruling party wins Vagharshapat elections amid tensions with Church
Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract party has won the local elections in the Vagharshapat community, securing 15,298 votes, according to Armenia’s Central Electoral Commission (CEC).
The CEC noted that voter turnout in Sunday’s elections was 45.12 per cent, or 31,527 people. A total of 69,866 citizens are eligible to vote in the community, News.Az reports, citing Armenian media.
According to results from all 47 polling stations, the Victory party received 10,051 votes; the All-Armenian Front party, 295; the Republic party, 1,241; the Mother Armenia national-democratic party, 1,692; the Free Democrats party, 1,177; the Heritage party, 440; the Civil Contract party, 15,298; and the Homeland party, 1,193.
The elections were reportedly marked by numerous violations. Voters reported that individuals they did not know were registered at their residential addresses. Observers also recorded gatherings outside polling stations and instances of open voting. As is customary, power was cut at several polling stations toward the end of the day.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan congratulated the voters of the Vagharshapat community “on holding democratic elections,” saying the vote reflected several important conclusions.
“You elected the candidate from the Civil Contract party, Argishti Mehakyevich Mehakyan, as the head of the community, confirming that a peaceful, prosperous and democratic Republic of Armenia is the best way to honour the memory of our martyrs — our greatest tribute to them,” he said.
“I congratulate all colleagues from the Civil Contract party and all citizens of the Republic of Armenia on this brilliant start to the nationwide elections of 2026. The people of the Republic of Armenia will prevail in the 2026 parliamentary elections,” he stated.
Pashinyan also described the election results as “an important impetus” to the process of "liberating" Etchmiadzin from Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II.
The row between Pashinyan and Karekin II (secular name Ktrich Nersisyan) centres on Pashinyan’s repeated public attacks on the Armenian Apostolic Church and its leadership. Since May 2025, Pashinyan has accused certain clergymen, including Karekin II, of violating their celibacy vows and denounced the church as corrupt, even calling for the catholicos’s removal. The conflict escalated with Pashinyan urging supporters to prepare for the catholicos’s expulsion from the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and proposing the creation of a coordination group to replace him.
The dispute reflects broader tensions between the secular government and the church, with Pashinyan framing it as a campaign to “liberate” sacred spaces from moral corruption, while the church views it as a politically motivated attack on its authority and independence.
Vagharshapat (also known as Etchmiadzin) is the spiritual centre of the Armenian Apostolic Church and home to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the administrative headquarters and residence of the Catholicos of All Armenians, who is the head of the church.
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