YEREVAN — As Armenia approaches its pivotal June 7 parliamentary elections, the country’s political environment has grown increasingly volatile, marked by escalating rhetoric, institutional pressure against opposition figures and deepening societal polarization.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who rose to power in 2018 on promises of democratic reform, now faces mounting criticism over an increasingly authoritarian political style amid national polarization following the 2020 war and the loss of Nagorno-Karabakh.

One of the defining moments of the campaign unfolded during a tense confrontation in Yerevan’s Arabkir district between Nikol Pashinyan and Dr. Arpine Soghoyan, the sister of missing military doctor Lt. Col. Hrant Papikyan, who disappeared during the 2020 war.

Approaching the prime minister during a public appearance, Soghoyan accused him directly of destroying both the country and an entire generation of Armenians.

Rather than de-escalate the exchange, Pashinyan responded angrily, raising his voice and grabbing Soghoyan’s arm as security and supporters surrounded them. The prime minister then launched into an extraordinary tirade against Armenia’s opposition leadership, threatening to imprison, politically “destroy” and even kill them after the elections.

Across the country, Pashinyan has increasingly faced emotional confrontations from relatives of fallen soldiers, families of the missing and displaced Armenians from Artsakh, many of whom accuse the government of abandoning Nagorno-Karabakh and misleading the public about the consequences of the war.

At the same time, accusations of hostility toward Artsakh Armenians have become a central issue in the campaign. Critics say members of the ruling Civil Contract party have increasingly amplified divisive rhetoric portraying displaced Artsakh Armenians as a political burden or a source of instability.

Gegham Stepanyan, the former human rights ombudsman of Artsakh, recently warned that anti-Artsakh rhetoric had become increasingly explicit during the election campaign. He accused representatives of the ruling party of serving as the primary drivers of hate speech against Artsakh Armenians and cautioned that the spread of divisive narratives threatened both national unity and social cohesion in Armenia.

The controversy intensified after a video surfaced online showing masked individuals carrying an Artsakh flag and speaking in an Artsakh dialect while issuing threats against Pashinyan. Pro-government media outlets and affiliated online accounts rapidly circulated the footage as evidence of alleged radicalization within opposition circles.

Armenian media analyst Tigran Kocharyan dismissed the video as a staged political provocation originating from within pro-government circles, alleging that the footage from the so-called “mask show” had already aired two days earlier on an international channel affiliated with Armenia’s state broadcaster before being amplified through pro-government Telegram channels and later relaunched across ruling-party media networks.

Kocharyan argued that the footage appeared designed to inflame hostility toward Artsakh Armenians, discredit the opposition and create justification for future political crackdowns under the banner of national security. He described the operation as a manipulative information campaign aimed at manufacturing fear, deepening hostility toward displaced Artsakh Armenians and portraying the opposition as extremist or dangerous.

The controversy unfolded alongside growing accusations that Armenian authorities are relying on legal and institutional pressure against opposition figures during the campaign.

Opposition politician Narek Karapetyan recently became the target of claims circulated by National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan, who alleged that Karapetyan held Russian citizenship. Armenia’s Central Election Commission later confirmed that all candidates had passed official citizenship verification procedures, effectively undermining the allegations. Nevertheless, criminal proceedings were launched, fueling accusations of politically motivated prosecution.

Responding to the accusations and public statements by members of the ruling Civil Contract party, Marianna Ghahramanyan, spokesperson for the Strong Armenia Alliance, announced that the party would begin filing defamation lawsuits against government-affiliated figures accused of spreading false information about alliance leader Samvel Karapetyan and party council member Narek Karapetyan.

She said the alliance’s legal team had already begun preparing lawsuits against Civil Contract members and affiliated individuals.

Ghahramanyan added that any financial compensation awarded through the lawsuits would be donated to the Sevan Mental Health Center for renovation projects.

Similar concerns have emerged around renewed state pressure targeting Gagik Tsarukyan and his business interests. Shortly after Pashinyan publicly criticized the Ararat Cement factory during campaign remarks and suggested the enterprise could be nationalized, Armenia’s Prosecutor General’s Office announced the launch of criminal proceedings related to the company’s privatization process.

According to prosecutors, investigators identified alleged irregularities involving abuse of official authority and possible money laundering connected to the privatization deal, with the case subsequently referred to the Anti-Corruption Committee.

The timing of the investigation immediately fueled opposition accusations that law enforcement bodies were again being used as political instruments during a sensitive election period. Tsarukyan rejected the allegations and argued that authorities had suddenly “remembered” issues related to the factory only after more than two decades of legal operation, despite the company paying taxes and functioning openly throughout that time.

Criticism of the government’s conduct during the campaign has also intensified among former senior Armenian officials. Former Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian accused Pashinyan of fostering an atmosphere of intimidation and political pressure ahead of the June 7 elections, warning that Armenia is drifting away from the democratic standards promised after the 2018 revolution.

In a statement addressed to foreign diplomats and Western observers, Oskanian condemned the increasingly aggressive rhetoric toward opposition figures and government critics, arguing that such behavior reflects a broader pattern of political intimidation and concentration of power.

He also criticized European institutions for their reluctance to respond to developments in Armenia, warning that geopolitical considerations were beginning to outweigh democratic principles in Western engagement with the country. “Silence under such circumstances is not neutrality,” Oskanian wrote. “It is a political choice.”