Narek Karapetyan placed under travel ban after Strong Armenia demands vote annulment

The situation appears to be the result of Russian restrictions on Armenian imports, which were launched in April and intensified in the pre-election campaign period and were largely seen as an economic leverage aimed at influencing the election outcome. Karapetyan added that Armat Media still would proceed with the coverage without him.

Armenian authorities have not commented on the alleged travel ban or when it was imposed.

In May, Karapetyan was placed under investigation over allegations that he concealed his foreign citizenship status while registering for the parliamentary elections.

Also on Friday, the Strong Armenia Alliance appealed to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) requesting that the results of the vote be ‘invalidated’.

Officials count votes after the polls close in the 7 June 2026 parliamentary elections. Photo: OC Media/ Mariam Nikuradze.

Karapetyan argued that despite what he described as widespread violations, Civil Contract failed to secure a two-thirds majority and ‘it cannot by [Azerbaijani President Ilham] Aliyev’s instruction change the Constitution’.

In its application, the alliance cited ‘all large-scale electoral violations’ allegedly recorded during and before election day.

Strong Armenia also questioned at least 100,000 votes received by Civil Contract, arguing that the ruling party did not win outright and that a second round should have been held.

The CEC is set to consider the appeal on Sunday, ahead of publishing the final results of the elections.

The elections were assessed by international and local observers as offering voters a genuine choice, with reported violations deemed insufficient to affect the outcome. Russia, however, has promoted a very different narrative.

Responding to Strong Armenia’s claims, Armenian Parliamentary Speaker Alen Simonyan said that by contesting the election results, the opposition was seeking to justify taking up its parliamentary mandates. He also argued that Strong Armenia’s rhetoric was identical to that of Russian media.

Prosperous Armenia accuses ruling party of obstruction

Separately, Prosperous Armenia accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government of deliberately obstructing its entry into parliament.

The developments come as the CEC recounts ballots following requests submitted by opposition groups.

According to the preliminary results, the ruling Civil Contract party should receive 64 seats in parliament, Strong Armenia 29, and the Armenia Alliance 12. Prosperous Armenia received 3.996% of the vote, narrowly missing the 4% threshold required for parties to enter parliament.

The party has vowed to appeal the CEC’s decision to invalidate the results from two polling stations, arguing that the move effectively deprived it of the votes needed to clear the parliamentary threshold.

‘It is obvious that the results of those precincts where the Prosperous Armenia Party received a large number of votes were declared invalid. This is the most blatant manifestation of voter fraud’, party spokesperson Iveta Tonoyan wrote on Facebook.

Speaking in a later press briefing, Tonoyan said the recounts had yielded around 130 additional votes for Prosperous Armenia — more than the roughly 60 votes she said the party needed to enter parliament. However, the invalidation of the two polling stations cost the party around 200 votes, making that outcome impossible.

She described the CEC’s decision as a result of Pashinyan’s politically motivated instructions.

According to the state-run news agency Armenpress, the CEC’s decision followed an appeal by Daniel Ioannisyan of the Independent Observer Alliance. Ioannisyan, in turn, said he had filed the complaint in response to opposition allegations that ‘organized voting by military personnel took place at those polling stations after the close of voting’.

Gagik Tsarukyan heads to the polls. Photo: Tamara Shvelidze/OC Media.Prosperous Armenia lawyer Aram Orbelyan argued that the decision should either be overturned or followed by a repeat vote in the two affected polling stations, or even nationwide.

Karapetyan previously also announced his alliance’s demand for a repeat vote in those stations after the invalidation.

On Friday, Prosperous Armenia party members staged a protest outside the CEC, describing it as the first in a series of planned actions. Its leader, Gagik Tsarukyan, then accused the authorities of using ‘unlawful measures’ against them.

‘The Prosperous Armenia Party is launching a series of steps aimed at defending justice and the interests of voters, and at countering unlawful actions by the authorities’, Tsarukyan said.

Tsarukyan added the party’s legal teams were preparing appeals and court challenges, while consultations had begun with other political forces ‘to develop a common agenda and coordinated steps’.

Separately, on both Thursday and Friday, Armenian authorities announced that they had discovered more vote-buying cases involving Prosperous Armenia affiliates.

Notably, candidate Aregnaz Manukyan’s house was searched in the framework of a state treason and espionage investigation involving the head of his Mother Armenia Party, Andranik Tevanyan.

On Friday, the CEC invalidated the results of a third polling station based on Strong Armenia’s appeal considering that the ballot of one of the candidates was found to be missing on election day.