Democracy Watch

By Hayk Khanumyan #DemocracyWatch – Following the 2018 Velvet Revolution, law-enforcement agencies increasingly appeared to act on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s metaphorical and often confrontational political rhetoric. In 2018–2019, statements such as “laying someone on the asphalt” and “throwing them against the walls” were followed by highly publicized arrests and displays of force against former officials’ bodyguards […]

By Tigran Grigoryan #DemocracyWatch – Armenia’s newly re-elected government introduced “spiritual security” as a new policy priority, framing reform of the Armenian Apostolic Church as a national security issue. The agenda is included in its draft five-year action plan, published on August 20, and goes as far as envisaging the removal of Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin […]

By Tigran Grigoryan #DemocracyWatch – Armenia’s June 7 parliamentary elections were the most geopoliticized in the country’s modern history. All the major external actors involved in the South Caucasus had clear preferences in the race and were actively engaged during the pre-election period in promoting their respective agendas. While Russia supported the opposition through its […]

By Tatevik Ghazaryan #DemocracyWatch – From July 1 to 3, the National Assembly of Armenia, in what was effectively a 24-hour legislative process conducted over two readings and without prior public consultations, adopted amendments to the Electoral Code and the Law on Referendums, making the right to vote conditional on a period of actual residence in Armenia. […]

by Tigran Grigoryan #DemocracyWatch – On July 6, the leader of the Prosperous Armenia Party, Gagik Tsarukyan, was arrested and taken to the Investigative Committee. During the day, investigative actions were also carried out at companies owned by Tsarukyan. According to the statement released by the Investigative Committee, he faces criminal charges including organizing fraud on an especially large […]

By Tigran Grigoryan #DemocracyWatch – The year preceding Armenia’s parliamentary elections was marked by a sharp deterioration in democratic standards. The ruling party, leveraging the state institutions under its control, targeted various opponents, instrumentalized law enforcement and the judiciary to serve narrow political agendas, and increasingly relied on selective justice. Throughout this period, through the […]

By Tigran Grigoryan and Hayk Khanumyan On May 14, during a meeting in one of Yerevan’s districts, former president and leader of the Armenia Alliance, Robert Kocharyan, criticized Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s “attacks against national identity and the Church” and insulted the ruling party leader, saying: “Now tell me, you hambal (a derogatory Armenian term […]

#DemocracyWatch — On March 25, 2026, the National Assembly elected Vladimir Vardanyan as a judge of the Constitutional Court. Only members of the ruling “Civil Contract” faction participated in the vote. Vardanyan’s election sparked serious criticism in Armenia, as just days before being elected to the Constitutional Court, he was a member of the ruling party and […]

By Tigran Grigoryan #DemocracyWatch – In July 2025, when our think tank—the Regional Center for Democracy and Security—published a report on hate speech targeting refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh, we identified several important patterns related to this phenomenon. The first was that the volume of hate speech against refugees increases during periods of domestic political tension. In […]