A change in the leadership of the Armenian Apostolic Church should take place before the 2026 parliamentary elections.

Axar.az reports that this was stated by the Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, Alen Simonyan, in a statement to journalists.

"No, this cannot be politicized before the elections," he emphasized in response to a question about the possibility of postponing the replacement of the church leader.

Simonyan called on Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II to resign promptly:

"He must understand that he should not allow things to reach a point where there is no alternative. As long as there is an alternative, he can make this decision himself."