The Fatherland party and Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) joined forces in the run up to the last elections held in June 2021 and won by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract party. Their Pativ Unem bloc came in a distant third with 5.2 percent of the vote.
Vanetsian announced the bloc’s effective breakup a year later, following the Armenian opposition’s failure to topple Pashinian with a campaign of daily street protests. He has kept a low profile since then.
A Fatherland spokesman, Sos Hakobian, said Pativ Unem was formed in the wake of the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh for the purpose of ousting Pashinian “at any cost” and never presupposed long-term cooperation between the two parties.
“Unfortunately, it didn't work out,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, referring to the regime change bid.
“As things stand now, party chairman Vanetsian’s statement that that Fatherland is preparing to participate in the [2026] parliamentary elections on its own remains in force,” said Hakobian. “But we don’t rule out holding consultations with other political forces to understand what the most effective format is.”
One of Vanetsian’s potential allies is Samvel Babayan, a former commander of Nagorno-Karabakh’s army. Babayan reiterated on Wednesday that he is now “cooperating” with Fatherland and “helping” its top candidate in an upcoming local election in a community comprising the town of Vagharshapat and surrounding villages. He said that depending on the outcome of that ballot, he and his supporters might also join forces with Vanetsian’s party for the 2026 general elections. Hakobian confirmed this while stressing that no such deal has been discussed yet.
Vanetsian, 45, is a former officer of the NSS who was appointed as head of Armenia’s most powerful security agency right after the 2018 “velvet revolution” that brought Pashinian to power. He became one of the most influential members of Pashinian’s entourage before being sacked in 2019. Vanetsian has since been a vocal critic of the prime minister.