Enemies Abroad, Pashinyan Within: Armenia Faces Threats on Both Fronts — By Harut Sassounian

Dozens of Armenian Parliament members engaged last week in an ugly physical altercation, punching each other and even throwing a chair, resulting in bloody noses and torn clothes.

In addition to having menacing neighbors on both sides of the border, Armenia has an enemy within that is far more dangerous.

Last week’s brawl, broadcast live on television, was shameful conduct unbecoming of the elected representatives of a people who pride themselves on belonging to the world’s oldest Christian nation and who live in an alleged democracy.

Regrettably, Parliament Speaker Ruben Rubinyan refused to interrupt the live broadcast of this scandalous behavior. He said he wanted the public to see what was happening. Videos of the brawl were posted extensively on social media, and were covered by NBC, Al Jazeera, and CNN, embarrassing Armenians worldwide.

Rubinyan acts more like a thug more than as Speaker of Parliament. He allows his party members to insult the opposition, yet the moment one of its members makes a critical comment about the majority, he quickly cuts off the microphone and orders the security agents to remove that member from the chamber.

To make matters worse, when Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was asked about the brawl, he said that he “supported the measures taken by the Civil Contract faction…. Whether with a chair or something else, it is proportionate and right…. If anyone thinks that they can raise their hand and hit a Member of Parliament…then we will break that hand.” A chair was hurled at opposition members by Vahagn Aleksanyan, Deputy Speaker of Parliament and a member of the majority Civil Contract party. Even though Pashinyan promised to break the hand of anyone who hits a Member of Parliament, no one has been charged with assault.

Having repeatedly claimed, falsely, that he has brought democracy and peace to Armenia, he admitted last week that if the peace agreement is not signed and ratified during his time in office through 2031, “I will consider it a personal failure.”

With each passing day, Pashinyan is taking more ominous steps to incite domestic instability. He accepted Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s demand to remove the reference in the preamble of Armenia’s Constitution to the 1990 declaration of independence. Aliyev has made its deletion a prerequisite for signing a peace treaty with Armenia. It is incredible that Armenia’s enemy is dictating the content of its Constitution and that Pashinyan is going along with it by describing Armenia’s declaration of independence as “anti-state.”

Fortunately, there is a major obstacle to the adoption of a new Constitution. Pashinyan’s party does not have the two-thirds majority in Parliament required to authorize a nationwide referendum. Without such approval, Aliyev has said he will not sign the peace treaty. This would be a major blow to Pashinyan’s central political objective and could lead to his political downfall.

In trying to resolve this dilemma, Pashinyan initially said that he would have to hold snap parliamentary elections, hoping they would enable his party to gain enough votes to reach the required two-thirds majority. However, Pashinyan quickly abandoned this option, seeing that his party members were alarmed that they might end up in the minority as a result of those elections.

Pashinyan needs to come up with a new plan that does not require snap parliamentary elections. He mysteriously said: “I will make an offer the opposition cannot refuse.” He will probably fabricate charges against at least six opposition members of Parliament and threaten them with imprisonment. If his blackmail succeeds, he will get the required two-thirds majority. However, the two opposition factions have announced that they will block the referendum.

Notably, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan told members of Parliament last week that the government “will resign and leave” if the people vote against the new Constitution in the referendum. That would put an end to Pashinyan’s beloved peace treaty as well as his premiership.

Another major issue is Pashinyan’s order to arrest several hundred opposition supporters for allegedly bribing voters during the June 7, 2026, parliamentary elections. They have been in jail for months without a trial, while Pashinyan keeps referring to them as bribe-givers. No court has found them guilty of anything. Meanwhile, not a single voter for Pashinyan’s party has been arrested for bribery.

Ironically, a video surfaced recently showing Pashinyan himself giving a bribe to a voter during his campaign for the June 7, 2026 parliamentary elections. Why was he not arrested for his apparent crime?

A second legal problem is the arrest of several prominent and wealthy Armenians under Pashinyan’s orders. Former Pres. Robert Kocharyan and businessmen Gagik Tsarukian and Samvel Karapetyan were arrested on unproven charges and had their properties and businesses confiscated, and their bank accounts seized. They have been accused merely on the basis of Pashinyan’s words. Not one of them has been found guilty of any crime by a court. Therefore, confiscating their assets is a violation of due process and the rule of law.

All three, along with many others, should apply to the European Court of Human Rights, asking it to order their release and impose financial penalties on the Armenian government for its multiple violations.