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Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said that the ruling Civil Contract party will form an electoral alliance with the party under which incumbent Goris Mayor Arush Arushanyan, once a vocal critic of Pashinyan’s policies, will run in the upcoming Goris municipal elections.
Pashinyan said the decision was based, among other things, on the political signals sent by Goris voters and a desire to avoid renewed tensions in the community.
Asked at a press briefing how Civil Contract plans to cooperate with Arushanyan, who has previously been a staunch critic of the government, the Prime Minister first stressed that Arushanyan will not run on Civil Contract’s electoral list.
“Arush Arushanyan will not be running on the list of the Civil Contract party. Rather, Civil Contract will form an alliance with the party through which Arush Arushanyan will run,” Pashinyan said.
He recalled that Goris voters had voted for Civil Contract in the 2021 parliamentary elections, while Arushanyan’s political force had won the local elections held in the same year.
“In the 2021 elections, Goris voted for the Civil Contract party. After that, in the local elections, Goris voted in such a way that, despite all the facts you mentioned, Arush Arushanyan was elected head of the community as a result of the elections. And all the facts you mentioned were known. It seems that there is a political incompatibility. How can it both vote for the Civil Contract party and, essentially, go in the opposite direction by 180 degrees?” the Prime Minister said.
According to Pashinyan, the authorities also took into account the signals coming specifically from Goris when making the decision.
“We made these decisions based on the following logic: this is a case where, in a sense, we have also yielded to the demand of the people and the people of Goris. In this election as well, Goris voted for the Civil Contract party. And we are also receiving these signals from Goris: why do you keep generating processes based on confrontation in Goris?” Pashinyan said.
The Prime Minister noted that a similar approach could also be applied in other communities, linking it to the logic of political solidarity.
“Also, taking into account the fact that we are often accused of [dividing society into opposing camps] and so on, in a number of communities we will make such decisions. We will form solidarity alliances where such opportunities exist. We have heard the voice of the people of Goris,” Pashinyan said.
Addressing the legal proceedings surrounding Arushanyan, the Prime Minister said they should be separated from the political decision.
“Legal processes are legal processes. As far as I know, there is no court decision that has entered into legal force; that is a completely separate issue. We have proceeded in Goris based on the logic of avoiding renewed tensions,” Pashinyan said.
Pashinyan also highly praised the cooperation between the Armenian government and the Goris Municipality in recent years.
“Despite the facts you mentioned, you can see how effectively the government and the community have cooperated in Goris, and Goris is today one of the success stories of government-community cooperation in the Republic of Armenia,” the Prime Minister concluded.
Arush Arushanyan confirmed on September 10 that his Business Party and Civil Contract will participate in the upcoming Goris municipal elections as an alliance, with him heading the alliance’s electoral list. The Goris elections are scheduled for October 25, 2026.