Opposition politician Tsarukyan unveils new programme ahead of 2026 elections
Armenian tycoon and opposition politician Gagik Tsarukyan has announced his return to national politics, unveiling a new programme titled Offer to Armenia ahead of the country’s 2026 parliamentary elections.
Tsarukyan said the new initiative aims to unite ‘knowledgeable and capable individuals’ from across Armenia’s professional sectors rather than simply building another traditional party structure.
‘I am thinking, communicating, and discussing with specialists from different fields’, Tsarukyan told reporters on 13 October
‘Today, there is no single person or political party that can pull our country out of this situation. There must be dialogue, consolidation — not necessarily among party members, but among those who are effective, competent, and truly want Armenia to be strong, independent, and prosperous’.
According to Tsarukyan, the Offer to Armenia programme will be built on what he described as ‘realistic assessments’ of Armenia’s current capabilities and resources.
The leader of the Democratic Alternative Party, Suren Surenyants, confirmed on Monday that his party will join forces with Tsarukyan’s bloc for the upcoming vote.
‘We will participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections as a single team’, Surenyants told RFE/RL. ‘Different format options are now being discussed, but it’s clear that our political forces are moving towards consolidation and forming one team’.
Surenyants added that the two parties had successfully collaborated in previous local elections between 2021 and 2026, forming institutional alliances in several communities.
Tsarukyan’s re-entry adds another high-profile name to an already crowded opposition landscape. Recently, former President Robert Kocharyan and ex-human rights defender Arman Tatoyan both signalled their intentions to participate in next year’s elections, each presenting themselves as alternatives to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government.
Tsarukyan’s comeback also coincides with the emergence of another business-driven political initiative — jailed tycoon Samvel Karapetyan’s Our Way (Mer Dzevov) movement, led in his absence by his nephew Narek Karapetyan.
The movement, formed earlier this year, has already opened discussions with several political figures, including Bright Armenia leader Edmon Marukyan, about a possible broad opposition consolidation. However, Narek Karapetyan has publicly ruled out cooperation with former presidents Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan.
Karapetyan’s team has emphasised professionalism and ‘clean hands’ as prerequisites for political participation — echoing similar rhetoric to Tsarukyan’s Offer to Armenia.
