Robert Kocharyan, the prime ministerial candidate of the Hayastan Alliance, reaffirmed that the alliance is prepared to support the opposition candidate who receives the highest number of votes. He cast his ballot together with his wife, Bella Kocharyan, at polling station 7/3 in Yerevan.

Asked whether incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan would leave office if the public made such a decision, Kocharyan replied: “If he does not leave, it will end very badly,” according to Aysor.am .

When asked to clarify the remark, Kocharyan said that everyone could interpret its meaning according to their own understanding.

He added that he had voted for Armenia — for a country with a strong national identity, security, protection and prosperity.

Kocharyan expressed confidence in the opposition’s prospects and said major changes were ahead in Armenia’s political life.

“There will indeed be radical changes. Last time, our mandates were simply not sufficient to achieve our goal, and we remained in opposition. We fought and never retreated,” he said.

Armenia’s second president also claimed that widespread surveillance and wiretapping are taking place in the country.

“If you are comfortable with that idea, and if others are comfortable with it as well, then they should vote for the force that created this atmosphere. They enter bedrooms, they enter kitchens. It is disgraceful. I do not remember a situation like this, with hundreds of opposition members facing criminal cases and house arrests,” he said.

Regular National Assembly elections are underway in Armenia. The country’s 2,005 polling stations opened at 8:00 a.m. The voter registry includes 2,485,851 registered voters. Polling stations will remain open until 8:00 p.m.

A total of 18 political forces are participating in the parliamentary elections: two electoral alliances and 16 political parties. The electoral threshold is 4% for parties and 8% for alliances.