"Vagharshapat model" may be at risk of repetition if  opposition  fails to unite by  2026 parliamentary elections - David Ananyan

ArmInfo. The results of the Council of Elders elections in the enlarged Vagharshapat community of the Armavir region reveal the structural contradictions of the current electoral system for local government in Armenia. The ruling party is  declared the winner not based on a public majority, but on electoral mathematics. David Ananyan, politician and former head of the State Revenue Committee, wrote on social media.

Ananyan notes that the ruling Civil Contract party only received  21.8% of the vote (15,298 votes out of 69,866 voters). However, after  squeezing out the votes of those forces that didn't pass the  threshold, it formed a 58% majority in the Council of Elders, holding  19 seats out of 33.

What actually occurred?

This electoral system (proportional + D'Hondt method + high  thresholds) replaces real representation with the formation of an  artificial majority. As a result, opposition forces, which garnered  more votes collectively, end up with less representation.

This is not a precedent; it is a warning

"The Vagharshapat model may be repeated in the 2026 national  elections. If the opposition  remains fragmented, self-sufficient,  unstable, and unconsolidated, then the electoral system will once  again reproduce power, according to the same mathematical logic, even  in the absence of a public majority," the expert notes. And then, in  the national elections (the next parliamentary elections are  scheduled for June - ed.), thousands of votes received by small  parties will be "wasted" without crossing the threshold. Electoral  resources will be squandered, and power will be preserved by  "dismembering the losers."

The elections in Vagharshapat should be seen as a signal

"If broad coalitions, real political alliances, and a common strategy  are not formed by 2026, even the votes of the majority could turn  into minority representation, and public expectations could once  again reach another dead end," David Ananyan concludes.