Eurasianet: Pashinyan’s domestic political challenges deepen as opposition sets aside disagreements to unite

Bad signs are brewing for the future of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, as a diverse array of political forces opposing his government’s domestic and foreign policy courses are showing signs of coalescing against him, Eurasianet writes.

As noted, Pashinyan over the past 18 months has steered Armenia away from the country’s traditional strategic ally, Russia, toward closer integration with the United States and European Union, even initiating a long-term EU accession process. More recently, he has promoted a plan, which he calls “Real Armenia,” to radically transform Armenian society.

The article says as Pashinyan tries to advance his policies amid strong public skepticism, he has benefited to date from divisions among his political opponents hindering coordinated action against the government. But the results of a recent municipal election in Armenia’s second largest city, Gyumri, suggest that an anti-government alliance has the potential to come together.

Pashinyan’s Civil Contract Party gained the largest single share of the vote in the March 30 Gyumri municipal election, good for 14 seats on the City Council. But the four other parties that cleared the voting threshold for representation, all of which oppose government policies, gained a total of 19 seats. After several weeks of negotiations, the four opposition parties agreed on April 16 to elect Vardan Gukasyan, who headed the Communist Party slate and who is an outspoken Pashinyan critic, as mayor.

Gukasyan wasted no time in stating publicly that Armenia under Pashinyan is heading in the wrong direction.

“Whether opposition forces can become more effective in coordinating action on the national stage remains to be seen. Even so, with a parliamentary election scheduled for 2026, Pashinyan’s path to reelection appears to be narrowing,” the website writes.