Former Deputy Defense Minister: 2026 elections are a "final  opportunity" to shape Armenia`s future

ArmInfo. The upcoming parliamentary elections in Armenia should not be perceived as just a power struggle, but rather as a critical turning point for the  nation's survival, as stated by Artak Zakaryan, a member of the  Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) and former Deputy Minister of  Defense,  during  a press conference titled  "Factors Threatening the  Security of Armenia and the Armenian World" in Yerevan on January 30. 

The politician stated that electoral processes provide Armenian  citizens with the opportunity to make a choice and a political  decision every four years. He emphasized that, although elections  represent the free expression of the will of citizens, it is  important that this choice be well thought out as everyone bears  responsibility for it. "If, for instance, if German citizens in 1933  had chosen differently, the world might have avoided millions of  casualties (the Nazi rise to power in 1933, which began with Hitler's  appointment as Reich Chancellor - ed.). Similarly, the choices made  by Armenian citizens during the 2018 "Velvet Revolution" (the Velvet  Revolution, which resulted in Nikol Pashinyan becoming Prime Minister  of Armenia - ed.) and the 2021 snap elections directly led to the war  and the loss of Artsakh. A similar situation occurred in 2021 (early  parliamentary elections in Armenia  on June 20 - ed.), which also had  its consequences," Zakaryan recalled.

The politician stressed that the 2026 elections must be about  choosing an effective ideology and a force capable of navigating  Armenia out of its current crisis.  "The Armenian people must choose   the force that will offer effective mechanisms for the country  to  exit this difficult situation. If at least one of the opposition  forces can overcome the necessary threshold to form a government,  this will mark the beginning of new opportunities for Armenia and the  pooling of existing resources. To achieve this, the elections should  not be perceived as a power struggle, especially by those who  understand the current realities. After all, this may be the last  opportunity for the Armenian people to change the country's future,  as the current government is leading the country toward the influence  of the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem," Zakaryan emphasized.

He concluded by noting that while global powers-including Russia, the  U.S., Iran, China, and the EU- will eventually adapt to whatever  course Armenia takes, the Armenian people must find their own  reasoned solutions. "We must independently find the right, argued,  and justified decisions for ourselves," Zakaryan urged.