Marco Rubio

In this episode of Conversations on Groong, we speak with Arthur G. Martirosyan about Armenia’s contested 2026 Armenian Parliamentary Election and Pashinyan’s path to a third term. We discuss whether the vote was free and fair, how state pressure and Western backing shaped the outcome, the razor-thin thresholds that determine parliamentary representation, Pashinyan’s post-election crackdown against the Established Opposition, and what a Civil Contract supermajority would mean for Armenia’s governance and the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Process.

In this episode of Groong Week in Review, we analyze the disputed results of Armenia’s June 7, 2026 Armenian Parliamentary Election. We examine Civil Contract’s contested majority, alleged irregularities and invalid ballots, the OSCE/ODIHR preliminary report, the last-minute exclusion of Prosperous Armenia, opposition arrests and pressure, and what a three-fifths majority could mean for Armenia’s courts, institutions, and foreign policy.

Armenia’s June 7 parliamentary elections test Pashinyan’s Western pivot amid Russian pressure, mass opposition arrests, strategic U.S. engagement through TRIPP, and the country’s post-Karabakh (Nagorno Karabakh) geopolitical realignment.

We examine Armenia’s May 28 Independence Day parade as election theater, Marco Rubio’s push for critical minerals deals and the TRIPP framework, and the strategic risks Armenia faces from Russia and Iran as the country heads into the 2026 Armenian Parliamentary Election. Dr. Philippe Raffi Kalfayan returns from IODA’s second election observation mission to report a sharply deteriorating pre-election climate marked by arrests of opposition figures, state intimidation of voters, misuse of public resources, and widespread fear among citizens. Rafael Ishkhanyan of the Armenian  Read More