Strong Armenia party nominates Samvel Karapetyan as PM candidate despite constitutional barrier
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Strong Armenia, a new party established by the Mer Dzevov (Our Way) movement, announced on Thursday that business tycoon Samvel Karapetyan will be its prime ministerial candidate in the upcoming general election, despite an apparent constitutional barrier.
Constitutional requirements for a prime minister in Armenia include having resided in the country for at least the previous four years and holding exclusively Armenian citizenship in that period. Karapetyan is reported to hold dual citizenship and has been based mostly abroad.
Narek Karapetyan, the billionaire’s nephew, announced the decision during the party’s meeting held at the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concert Complex, where he also presented the party’s political agenda and priorities in the event of victory in the parliamentary elections.
The party announced that if they win the election, they would initiate a legislative amendment, change the law regarding the requirement, and elect Samvel Karapetyan.
According to lawyer Siranush Sahakyan, who spoke at the event, changing the regulation stipulated in Article 148 of the Constitution does not require a referendum, as it is not an eternity clause.
Samvel Karapetyan was earlier elected president of the Strong Armenia party.
Karapetyan, the owner of the Tashir Group of Companies, is facing charges of calling for a coup, and money laundering. He denies any wrongdoing. He was arrested in the summer of 2025 and placed in pretrial detention. On December 30, he was granted house arrest, later returned to custody, and subsequently placed under house arrest again.