Thirteen Armenian opposition political forces have a joint initiative to coordinate their activities against the government's proposed constitutional changes, which they describe as the imposition of an “Aliyev constitution”. The declaration followed a closed-door meeting held on the evening of 4 November at the private residence of businessman and Strong Armenia party founder Samvel Karapetyan, hours after his arrest in a new criminal investigation involving Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA).

The joint statement identifies four areas of cooperation: rejecting what the opposition calls the imposition of an “Aliyev constitution”; achieving peace with Azerbaijan without unilateral concessions or territorial losses; protecting Armenian national identity and the Armenian Apostolic Church; and restoring democratic freedoms and rights. The signatories include Strong Armenia, the Armenia Alliance led by former President Robert Kocharyan, the Armenian National Congress of former President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, the Republican Party of former President Serzh Sargsyan, Prosperous Armenia led by Gagik Tsarukyan, Hayakve, Country to Live, Heritage, and other political forces. The parties pledged to set aside their political differences and called on public figures and civil society representatives to join the initiative.

Narek Karapetyan, head of the Strong Armenia parliamentary faction, who read the joint statement, the next steps for reaching consensus with influential public figures around the initiative's stated priorities. Asked whether the opposition intended to organise street protests, he did not announce a specific mobilisation plan, but maintained that all constitutionally permitted means of political struggle remained available. Karapetyan also accused the authorities of arresting his uncle to prevent him from launching the opposition consolidation process, which Samvel Karapetyan had initiated.

The who had been under house arrest since January in a separate proceeding. On 4 November, investigators conducted searches at 65 addresses, including the homes of Karapetyan, his nephew Narek Karapetyan, and other individuals linked to the family. The Investigative Committee initiated criminal proceedings against 36 people, including the businessman, over alleged abuse of authority, large-scale embezzlement of entrusted property, and money laundering involving ENA. According to investigators, the alleged offences took place between 2016 and 2024 and caused the electricity distributor losses exceeding AMD 64.585 billion (approximately $168 million).

Investigators allege that ENA executives obtained bank loans exceeding the company's actual operational requirements and transferred the funds to shareholder companies, including Liormand Holdings Limited and Tashir Capital, through dividends, loans and advance payments. They further allege that the funds were subsequently concealed and mixed with other income to disguise their criminal origin. Karapetyan denies the accusations. On 5 November, the Anti-Corruption Court ordered his detention for one month. The case follows the government's earlier decision to place ENA under temporary state management and pursue its nationalisation.

Strong Armenia has rejected the authorities' account of the case, assessing the searches and Karapetyan's detention as politically motivated. Narek Karapetyan accused Pashinyan of using law enforcement measures to pressure opposition lawmakers into supporting the constitutional referendum. Karapetyan recalled the prime minister's earlier statements about generating public pressure against opposition MPs who opposed the proposed Constitution. The party also alleged that the searches, including those at family residences where children were present, were intended to intimidate its members.

On 5 November, following Karapetyan's detention and the opposition's announcement, Pashinyan claims that the criminal investigation was politically motivated. The prime minister argued that law enforcement agencies must have substantial grounds to initiate proceedings despite knowing that the case would trigger political speculation. Referring to the alleged AMD 64 billion in damage to ENA, he questioned why opposition figures were invoking Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in connection with the case. Pashinyan also called for investigations into the origins of the wealth of Armenia's so-called “national benefactors”, while acknowledging the presumption of innocence and insisting that the allegations should receive a legal assessment.

Commenting specifically on the newly announced opposition coalition, Pashinyan noted that the Armenian public, rather than the government, should determine whether the initiative could develop into a movement capable of changing power. Pashinyan framed the government's objective as institutionalising peace and replacing the current period of relative calm with “decades and centuries of peace”. At the same time, he called the opposition forces “anti-state figures” who, in his view, were invoking Azerbaijan and the Constitution issue to cover up alleged financial wrongdoing. The prime minister also sarcastically that the opposition meeting lacked the participation of Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, whose secular name is Ktrich Nersisyan, suggesting that his presence could have brought about a revolution by Sunday evening.

At another briefing on 5 November, Pashinyan claiming that the opposition's description of the proposed document as an “Aliyev constitution” was intended to undermine Armenia's sovereignty and statehood. According to Pashinyan, his government wanted citizens to choose the new Constitution through a referendum and emphasized that the country needed to organise its policies around his concept of “Real Armenia”.

The opposition has not yet announced a joint electoral strategy or a concrete timetable for street mobilisation. Its immediate objective, as outlined by Narek Karapetyan, is to broaden agreement among political forces and influential public figures around the rejection of the proposed constitutional changes and the other priorities set out in their declaration.