No more velvet: Pashinyan vows to break oligarchic system

The 2026 parliamentary elections have brought forward a new revolutionary agenda, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced on Wednesday.

He told lawmakers at a plenary session that his government has faced difficulties in explaining to the public why former officials and their associated circles have not been brought to account and imprisoned.

“We had difficulty explaining to the public why Robert Kocharyan is not in prison. We had difficulty explaining to the public why what Gagik Tsarukyan looted has not been returned. We had difficulty explaining to the people how it happened that the ‘Kaluga oligarch’ continued, even after the revolution, to steal electricity from kindergartens and schools for eight years. How was this possible?” Pashinyan said, referring to Samvel Karapetyan’s ownership of the power distribution company ENA and alleged mismanagement.

According to Pashinyan, one of the reasons is that these groups had external sponsors, which previously made the authorities cautious and constrained in dealing with them.

He said that after the elections, a new political agenda has been formed.

“This election and the activity recorded in it have given rise to a new revolutionary agenda — a revolution in which velvet should be excluded,” the prime minister said, referring to the 2018 Velvet Revolution.

Pashinyan stated that, in his assessment, the former system was built to protect oligarchic interests and must be changed.

“The entire previous system was structured to protect that oligarchy. We must move toward breaking that system; there is no other option,” he said.

According to the prime minister, this was not an ordinary political process.

“This is not a simple election. Either the revolution gains new momentum, or the counter-revolution wins. This is our choice,” Pashinyan warned.