Republican Party of Armenia

The Republican Party of Armenia, commonly known as the RPA, is Serzh Sargsyan ’s party and one of the historic pillars of Armenian post-independence politics. The party governed Armenia for roughly two decades before the 2018 Velvet Revolution — widely seen as a color revolution and regime change operation — brought Nikol Pashinyan and Civil Contract to power. The RPA holds seats in the 2021–2026 National Assembly as part of the opposition but has announced it will not participate in the June 7, 2026 parliamentary elections , a decision that reflects the party’s assessment of electoral conditions under the current government.

The RPA’s criticism of Pashinyan’s rule centers on the handling of the 44-Day War , the ethnic cleansing of more than 150,000 Armenians from Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), and what it characterizes as unconstitutional concessions to Azerbaijan in ongoing peace negotiations. The party has been vocal about Pashinyan’s confrontation with the Armenian Church , state pressure on clergy, and the broader erosion of Armenian statehood. Episodes featuring Armen Ashotyan , the RPA’s vice president, have addressed these positions alongside his own experience as Armenia’s most prominent political prisoner — detained for 25 months — and the pattern of state repression targeting opposition figures under Pashinyan’s rule. Hayk Mamijanyan, another RPA-affiliated figure, has spoken on deteriorating conditions for free expression and independent media.

The RPA’s decision to sit out the 2026 elections is itself a subject of analysis in Groong’s coverage. The party’s calculus is strategic: by not fielding candidates, it avoids drawing votes that would otherwise fall below the 4% threshold and be “vaporized” — wasted rather than converted into parliamentary seats. The RPA’s voter base is instead expected to consolidate behind other opposition forces, improving their chances of clearing thresholds and collectively denying Civil Contract a supermajority. This stance places the RPA outside the active electoral contest while its long-term organizational capacity and historical voter base remain relevant to the opposition’s overall prospects.

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