Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has ordered new searches and arrests out of fear, the Strong Armenia party said in a statement.

The party reported widespread searches at the homes of its leaders and representatives.

In its statement, Strong Armenia accused Pashinyan of being in a panic over what it described as his failure to secure public support for adopting what it called Aliyev’s constitution. The party said this was why he was once again behaving like a poor imitation of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, whom it described as a dictator.

The party claimed that Pashinyan had ordered new searches and arrests out of fear that Strong Armenia would win what it called the struggle for independence, arguing that the public stood behind the party.

Strong Armenia said Pashinyan was trying to prevent it from saving Armenia, but insisted that the party would prevail and that Armenia would win.

The statement also referred to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), saying that after it had reported violations during the election process, Pashinyan was now attempting to undermine the constitutional amendment process as well.

The party said it was fighting against what it called Aliyev’s constitution in order to preserve Armenia’s independence. It accused Pashinyan of fighting against the party but expressed confidence that it would prevail and democracy would win.

Strong Armenia concluded by saying it would not abandon its struggle to defend Armenia’s independence.

Earlier, NEWS.am reported that Investigative Committee officers had begun searching the homes of Samvel Karapetyan, leader of the Strong Armenia party, and Narek Karapetyan, head of the Strong Armenia faction in the National Assembly, early that morning.

Aghavni Sukiasyan, spokesperson for the Strong Armenia party, said that searches were also being carried out at other addresses linked to the Karapetyan family.

Media reports suggest that the case concerns an economic crime related to the Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA).

The Investigative Committee told NEWS.am that simultaneous searches were being conducted at 65 addresses as part of a criminal investigation handled by its Main Department for the Investigation of Economic Crimes and Smuggling.