With Armenia’s June 7 parliamentary election fast approaching, political commentator Eric Hacopian joins the CivilNet podcast to assess a race that looks markedly different from previous campaigns. The contest is being shaped by unprecedented levels of spending from frontrunners, while smaller parties compete for visibility through social media. Against the backdrop of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s campaign trail outbursts and an increasingly heated political atmosphere, the discussion turns to whether voters are truly limited to choices between the current leadership and the old political establishment. Hacopian argues that viable alternatives do exist if voters know where to look.
0:00- May 18 masked men video
1:33- Pashinyan’s multiple confrontations on the campaign trail
5:12- Why has civil society been silent?
7:56- Changing styles of campaigning
10:17- What is polling telling us?
15:17- Are there viable alternatives to the main contenders?
18:43- The issue of thresholds
20:42- Half the parties don’t have public platforms
21:43- What figures might be shaping politics a decade from now?
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29 Comments
The electoral system we have that grants the majority of sests to the party that could just have 1% more than the party that comes 2nd is the worst for our society
I think you should address the real issues and make indepth unbiased analysis of the political situation in the country and the dangers it is facing and not waste time commenting on street dramas. That woman whose brother was killed during the karabagh war should have complained to the prime minister during the 2021 election campain and not now.
A very fare and well balanced assesment!
💪🇷🇺🇷🇺💪🏾🚀💪🏾🇷🇺💪✌🏼🎖🎖🇦🇲🇦🇲🇦🇲🇦🇲
Назвать армянина турком это оскорбление! Для всех, кроме одного! По заявлению самого дорогого варчапета назвать его турком для него не оскорбление
I think these two people are basically trolling the Armenian public for clicks at this point. To call this government totalitarian you have to either be a liar or an idiot and they’re neither.
The 2026 campaign rhetoric has been dominated by fear and intimidation; be afraid thousands of AZs will be relocating to Armenia , be afraid if current gov re-elected the Republic will become a Turkish wilayet , be afraid the Kremlin can punish Armenia economically, be afraid the Republic can become another Ukraine, be afraid…, be afraid… , …..
Fear disturbs rational thinking , frightened voters are easy to be coerced and manipulated, political actors exploit this atrociously , and fear cannot be the only competing factor to terrorize a society into submission to cast votes to one side who exerted fear MOST , we must acknowledge reality and not submit to fear , democratic elections is about persuasion and NOT hooligan based intimidation ..
My compass being , how do I , myself , see Armenia next 3/4 yrs, and NO miracles happen from thin air , would say by seriously considering the status of balance powers in the region and globally with Armenia at the center, and the future of Armenia’s Youth the compass for decisions .
Откуда такие расклады по процентам? Эрику не верю.
Eric, you have no words, I do: it is horror, pure horror that this psychotic, unstable man with no morals and convictions will occupy the office of the prime minister. We are standing at the edge of the abyss!
Is it possible to join neither camp, neither RA or EU? To truly hold an independent position?! Would big powers let that happen?!
Can you name one NGO representative who hasn't criticized this government?
As if someone could even come this close to a leader of the country before Pashinyan. Stop gaslighting
Erik Hakobyan is low-key Russian propagandist. With all the respect ✊. Erik is a clever guy and it is heartbreaking to witness how he and Zibilnet are echoing dashnak/anti state propaganda, presenting it as a non-biased political commentary
Basically what you are saying is that all pro-Russian groups (because they are not political party's, they are bandits) will be elected. Putin can sleep tonight. We need a big surprise.
Maybe you should discuss why some people, actually a large layer of society, are not outraged by Pashinian's hysterics. Maybe they are aware how much effort Russia puts (and money, billions in fact), and the fear that Russian agents will capture the power in Armenia is much, much higher than having a hysterical leader. Personally, and honestly, I can live with a hysterical Pashinian, who is quite reasonable when not campaigning, than the loss of sovereignty of the country, even Georgia style, not even talking about Belarus.
It was disgusting. He is the one who feeds hatred and discriminate us in our own country. He is disgusting and a traitor.
diasporans are #conservationists | Listening to Eric Hacobian and other commentators, I discover Armenia is not what might be imagined over my decades.
For me, Armenia today is strange. More foreign, less easily described by me than it once was 10 years ago (2016), 34 years ago (1992) when I first visited, 50 years ago when numerous relatives in my extended family lived there (now many are rooted in LA) and my parents and relatives from Sydney visited them.
One truism that reasserts itself about diasporan communities, Armenian or otherwise, is this. It is that diasporans tend to fixate on an image of their perceived homeland frozen in time, as the place they left, when they left. While the homeland keeps changing over time, the fixed diasporan image remains. In other words diasporans are conservationist. Perhaps that is me too.
The benefit of this presentation today is being a reality check for me. Onwards.
The West is never going to bet on someone who is "pro-Western and at the same time nationalist and defense-oriented" to gain power in Armenia, unless that defense is directed against a common enemy. Nationalist forces in Armenia clearly need defense to counter Turkish interests in the region, and the West is never going to allow that to happen. No country in the Caucasus, however democratic, is able to give Europe what Turkey can, be it politically, economically, strategically, security-wise or intelligence-wise. Eric is too naïve to believe in a saviour who will turn the country into a Western-style democracy and a liberal heaven and will also let Armenians continue living in a bubble where Armenia extends beyond its official borders. You want your cake and eat it too, and that doesn't happen.
Pashinyan had the ability to "take the high road". I dont like that expression but for his position, its fitting. It shows that hes susceptible to pressure, which confirms his body language from 2020, 2021, 2023. Hes still the best option for Armenia, but thats because for over 30 years now, no Armenian group has done enough to challenge the greatest hurtle to Armenia being an Israel: corruption and self destruction.
5:15 because he has the blessing of freemasons.
Thank you for the insight!
stop euphemising Pashinyan, he IS authoritarian. Go to the border villages and ask the locals if they can freely report azeri crimes.
First of all Mr. Erik I saw that clip which he was listening to this lady which (yo me ) obviously was provok from opposition (could be even forgien envolvment) was yelling on him and accusing with some worlds and he was stopping his followers to let her speak. But that lady with all respect was aggressive herself. I would said that all this pressure from different Russian proxy like Sarkisyan, Kocharyan and Tsarookyan left a toll on his nerve. Mr. Hakopyan remember what you are wishing now.
The one whom made the biggest contribution to Christ should win.
Earth is the bride of Christ, once married the name of the bride must be changed, it’s so obvious! Again Armenians changed time itself after Christ but didn’t change the space itself which is Earth to Heart. It’s so obvious!
Pacinian didn’t start the war it started by Aliev Ergon Putin and Netanyahu
Спасибо Эрик джан.
❤
Very interesting, thanks!