Republican Party of Armenia Issues Statement

The Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) will not participate in the elections on June 7, but has published its program for a change of power and the restoration of the country:

1. We reaffirm the goals, priorities, evaluations, and guidelines enshrined in the message adopted by the RPA council on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the RPA's foundation.
2. Respectfully honoring and expressing gratitude to the memory of the martyrs who fell for the defense of the Homeland, we emphasize that their sacrifice obliges us to continue the sacred work of defending statehood, national security, and dignity.
3. We confidently declare that the catastrophic 44-day war of 2020 was not an accident, but an inevitable consequence of the actions of Armenia's current rulers, characterized by anti-state and adventurous governance, underestimating external dangers and threats, promoting a fake agenda of 'peace at any cost', consistently weakening negotiation positions, and conducting irresponsible policies at a high state level.
4. We note that the political doctrine of the usurpers of power, named 'era of peace', not only failed to ensure security and stability, but also led to the blockade of Artsakh, a humanitarian disaster, the military aggression of September 2023, the ethnic cleansing of Armenians from Artsakh, and their forced displacement.
5. We reject the false thesis of the Armenian rulers and their foreign patrons that the issue of Artsakh is closed, and we demand the inclusion of the right to a dignified return of the Armenians of Artsakh with international guarantees in Armenia’s foreign policy agenda, as well as the need for systematic work on the issue of missing persons as a result of the war, and the immediate release and return of our compatriots unlawfully held in Baku's prisons as an inseparable part of the national and international agenda.
6. We affirm that the political policy of the current rulers of Armenia has been accompanied by gross violations of the Constitution, legal and moral norms, subordination of public interest, and a consistent retreat from national values.
7. We acknowledge that the opposition national forces, including ourselves, failed to form a broad national movement and political unity at the necessary moment against the traitorous, state-destroying rulers, and this omission is subject to honest assessment and consequences.
8. We are convinced that admitting our own mistakes is not a sign of political weakness, but rather a prerequisite for building a future and strengthening public trust through lessons learned.
9. We declare that our political goal is not to have power for its own sake, but to protect the sovereignty of Armenia, statehood, national values, dignity, and the secure and prosperous future of our people.
10. We emphasize that the decision of the Republican Party not to directly participate in the parliamentary elections on June 7, 2026, is justified and is not based on narrow party calculations, but on the national interests of halting societal division, uniting healthy political forces, and contributing to victory. In this logic, abstaining from participation in the elections is not avoiding struggle.
11. The Republican Party will continue to be one of the frontrunners in the fight for national goals.
12. We announce that the legitimacy of elections is determined not only by the voting day but also by the environment established beforehand. If this continues, the political persecutions, repressions, intolerance towards dissent, misuse of administrative resources, creation of unequal information conditions, and external illegal interventions by the current regime provide grounds to declare that the right of the people to freely express their will is violated, becoming a basis for deeming the elections fraudulent.
13. We reaffirm that the constitutional path of expressing distrust towards the Prime Minister remains on our party’s agenda for achieving a change of power.
14. We present our team’s proposals to the national, healthy, and real opposition forces that have decided to participate in the parliamentary elections in order to make the process of changing power more effective and organized.
15. We are convinced that Armenia's foreign policy must be fundamentally revised and reconstructed based on the clear differentiation of sovereignty, mutual benefit, alliance and partnership relations, and the exclusive awareness of public interest.
16. We consider it our duty and obligation to protect the rights of political prisoners, Armenian prisoners of war and hostages held in Baku, including the military-political leadership of Artsakh, as well as those of Artsakh Armenians who have been subjected to ethnic cleansing and forced displacement, and to continue advocating for the rights of families of missing persons.
17. After a change of power, our priorities will include:
    • Restoring an atmosphere of cooperation and state responsibility within the country,
    • Legal-political assessment of the intolerable steps taken by the anti-state that led to severe consequences for the country and enforcing the law to the fullest extent for those actions,
    • Restoring and modernizing the combat readiness of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia,
    • Restoring and further strengthening previously strong negotiating and diplomatic positions based on national and state interests,
    • Achieving dignified and guaranteed peace,
    • Systematic advancement of the rights to a dignified and safe collective return of Artsakh's Armenians, the release of captives, and addressing the issue of missing persons,
    • Restoration of democratic freedoms, political competition, and freedom of speech under real guarantees,
    • Positioning Armenia as a sovereign, secure, prosperous, dignified, and state interests-defending nation.

Free yourself from darkness, choose the light!” Earlier, the third President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, announced that his party would not participate in the elections “to avoid further dividing the opposition field.”