By Arshaluys Barseghyan

Armenia’s main opposition groups have announced the formation of a nationwide alliance, pledging to oppose the ruling Civil Contract party’s plan to amend the constitution, which they describe as ‘Aliyev’s constitution’. The announcement came hours after the arrest of Russian–Armenian billionaire and opposition Strong Armenia leader Samvel Karapetyan.

Amendments to Armenia’s constitution are one of the last few preconditions Azerbaijan had laid out for the signing of a peace treaty. The two countries initialled the peace deal in August 2025, but have yet to finalise it, with Baku claiming the Armenian constitution contained territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

Amendments to the constitution have been a hot topic in the past week, with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan even suggesting he could call snap elections to secure enough seats to force a referendum on the constitution. Despite winning the June parliamentary elections, Civil Contract lacks the two-thirds majority required to call a referendum to amend the constitution.

Strong Armenia hosted a meeting with representatives of Armenia’s main opposition groups at Karapetyan’s mansion in Yerevan shortly after the tycoon’s arrest. Following the meeting, they issued a joint statement announcing the ‘formation of a pan-national consolidation’.

Aside from rejecting plans to adopt a new constitution, the groups also outlined three other goals — ‘peace without unilateral concessions or territorial losses’; ‘protection of national identity and the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church’; and ‘restoration of democratic freedoms and rights’.

They also called on all political parties, public figures, and civil society figures to join the alliance.

Karekin II needed to ‘complete the picture’, Pashinyan says

The meeting took place hours after Karapetyan and 35 of his associates were arrested on Wednesday as part of a criminal investigation into alleged damages of more than ֏65 billion ($180 million) at Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), the country’s main power grid operator.

ENA is owned by Karapetyan’s Tashir Group, but is currently under state management pending nationalisation.

The arrests followed searches on Wednesday at Karapetyan’s mansion, the home of his nephew, Narek Karapetyan, who leads Strong Armenia’s faction in parliament, among 60 other locations.

The investigation also involves several members of ENA’s board of directors, the company’s CEO, deputy CEO, and other senior officials.

According to the authorities, they had obtained evidence suggesting that, under Karapetyan’s direction, ‘between 2016 and 2024 several individuals committed four separate counts involving abuse of official authority in the private sector, embezzlement of entrusted property in particularly large amounts, and money laundering in particularly large amounts’.

Prior to his detention on Wednesday, Karapetyan had already been under house arrest in December 2025, after being released on bail following more than six months in pretrial detention over charges of calling for the usurpation of power and money laundering.

Those charges concerned remarks he made in support of the Armenian Apostolic Church amid its conflict with Pashinyan and Civil Contract.

After being charged with making calls against the state, he announced his entry into politics and the creation of the Strong Armenia, which emerged as the ruling Civil Contract party’s main challenger in the June parliamentary elections.

Strong Armenia linked Karapetyan’s arrest to the ongoing debate over Armenia’s constitution.

‘By remanding Samvel Karapetyan in custody again, Pashinyan is attempting to force the adoption of Aliyev’s Constitution through anti-democratic methods’, the party’s statement read.

The party expressed confidence that Pashinyan ‘will not succeed in imposing’ the new constitution, arguing that the Armenian people oppose it.

‘Together, we will say “NO” to Aliyev’s Constitution and “YES” to preserving Armenia’s independence’, the statement concluded.

Narek Karapetyan rejected the allegations against his uncle, arguing that Samvel Karapetyan owned ENA and could not have committed abuses against his own company.

He said that the authorities sought to use Samvel Karapetyan’s arrest as a ‘bargaining chip’ to gain support for a new constitution.

Karapetyan’s arrest comes amid a wider series of criminal proceedings and other measures targeting opposition figures in the aftermath of the June elections. With his detention, all of Pashinyan’s main political challengers are now in pretrial detention, including former President Robert Kocharyan and Prosperous Armenia leader Gagik Tsarukyan.

Pashinyan addressed the opposition meeting during his weekly press briefing on Thursday, sarcastically remarking that one important person was not in attendance: Catholicos Karekin II.

Tensions between the Armenian government and the Church escalated into an open conflict in May 2025, with Pashinyan vowing to topple Karekin II. The conflict came as Church figures increasingly involved themselves in politics. This included the Tavush for the Motherland anti-government movement, which was led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan.

‘Had he [Karekin II] also been present, the picture would have been complete, and I believe that within just a few days, that format could have brought about a revolution and a change of government in Armenia. But it is not too late even now. If, for example, they gather in that format this evening, I believe there will already be a revolution by Sunday evening’, Pashinyan said.

As for the criminal case and the opposition response, he also said that for more than 30 years, ‘looting’ in Armenia had been concealed behind other concepts and terms, such as ‘Azerbaijan, Aliyev, Turkey, and so on’.

He argued that law enforcement authorities should act whenever abuses are uncovered, adding that ‘we need to establish the origins of the wealth of our so-called benefactors’ — a reference to Samvel Karapetyan.