Armenia to hold snap polls after parliament fails to elect PM

The electoral bloc of Armenia's acting prime minister Nikol Pashinian won a landslide victory in Sunday's snap parliamentary elections, which were triggered by the reformist leader seeking to cement his political authority in the post-Soviet country.

The bloc led by Pashinian's Civil Contract party had 70.45 percent of the vote, and trailing in distant second place with 8.37 percent was the Prosperous Armenia party, according to results from 90 percent of precincts, the central election commission said.

The centrist My Step bloc also includes the Mission Party headed by rights activist Manuk Sukiasyan.

A small liberal pro-Western party, Bright Armenia, also cleared an electoral threshold with 6.33 percent of the votes, the commission said.

Pashinian became prime minister in May after spearheading weeks of peaceful anti-government rallies that ousted veteran leader Serzh Sarkisian.

The 43-year-old former journalist has pledged to root out endemic corruption and address widespread poverty, earning him supporters in the impoverished landlocked nation of about three million people.

"After the elections, we will be developing Armenian democracy and make an economic revolution happen," Pashinian told reporters after casting his ballot.

Pashinian's reform drive had been stalled for months by opposition from Sarkisian's then-ruling Republican Party, which dominated the National Assembly until his calculated resignation triggered parliament's dissolution last month.

The Republican Party took 4.56 percent in Sunday's elections, failing to clear the five-percent threshold to make it into parliament.

At a polling station in central Yerevan voters expressed optimism about the political change promised by Pashinian and vented their anger at former corrupt officials.

"Thanks to the revolution, we will finally have fair elections," 72-year-old pensioner Parzik Avetisyan told AFP.

"I voted for the positive change promised by Nikol (Pashinian)," he added.

Another voter, 52-year-old painter Garnik Arakelyan, said: "I want all those corrupt officials who for many years were robbing and humiliating people to be jailed."

Turnout was 48.63 percent when polls closed at 8 p.m. (1300 GMT), the election commission said.

Last week, Pashinian promised "the best elections Armenia has ever seen," without ballot stuffing or voter intimidation.

Parliamentary polls had not been scheduled to be held until 2022.

Analysts say Pashinian sought new elections while he is at the peak of his popularity.

In September, his bloc scored a landslide victory in municipal elections, winning more than 80 percent of the vote in the capital Yerevan, where nearly 40 percent of the former Soviet Republic's population lives.

"The elections were called on the wave of a revolutionary euphoria," analyst Gevorg Poghosyan told AFP.

"But after the polls, that sentiment will inevitably weaken and Pashinian and his team will face a reality check."

On foreign policy, Pashinian has said Armenia will "further strengthen (our) strategic alliance with Russia and, at the same time, step up cooperation with the United States and European Union".

Nine political parties and two electoral blocs were competing for mandates in the 101-seat National Assembly.

A party needs at least five percent of the vote to be elected to parliament, while an electoral bloc must clear a seven-percent barrier.

But -- regardless of how many votes they win -- opposition parties will take at least 30 percent of parliamentary seats, according to Armenia's electoral law.

More than 2.6 million people were eligible to vote in the election monitored by international observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. </s> RPA, Tsarukyan Bloc, Yelk Bloc, and ARF to Likely Pass Threshold to be Represented in Armenia’s National Assembly

YEREVAN (A.W)—Polls closed at 8 p.m. on April 2, in Armenia’s first Parliamentary Elections since the adoption of its new Constitution in 2015, with 1,574,947 registered voters (60.86 percent) participating. On April 3, at around 12 p.m., the Central Electoral Commission of Armenia (CEC) announced that with around 97 percent of the votes counted, that the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) had received around 49 percent of the total vote.

One other party—the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) (6.58 percent)—and two political blocs—the Tsarukyan bloc (27.32 percent) and the Yelk bloc (7.77 percent)—garnered enough votes to pass the threshold to be represented in Armenia’s National Assembly (Parliament).

According to Armenia’s Electoral Code, participating parties require a minimum of 5 percent of the vote, while political blocs require a minimum of 7 percent to be represented.

The five other contenders—the Free Democrats Party (0.94 percent), the Armenian Revival Party (3.71 percent), the Armenian National Congress (ANC)-People’s Party of Armenia (PPA) bloc (1.65 percent), the Communist Party of Armenia (0.75 percent), and the Ohanyan-Raffi-Oskanian bloc (2.7 percent)—are set to fail to pass the thresholds.

An unprecedented 28,000 election observers monitored the election, including about 300 Diaspora Armenians, who partnered with local and international non-government organizations (NGOs).

During the election, biometric machinery was used for the first time, to verify the identities of eligible voters and to register them. Also for the first time, cameras were set up in 1,500 of the 2,009 precincts, to live stream the voting. While these, and other safeguards were put in place for the election, several instances of violations and irregularities, voter-intimidation, and even election-related violence were reported from observers in precincts throughout Armenia.

In one case, an election monitor told the Armenian Weekly about an incident at a polling station in Yerevan’s Arabkir district, in which he was verbally attacked and threatened by the chairperson of the election precinct commission. Another monitor in the Zeitun district said that at least three verbal arguments broke out in the precinct to which she was assigned.

Observers of the Citizen Observer Initiative— a coalition of civic groups that deployed over 3,000 monitors across Armenia—identified about 2,000 violations and irregularities—1,147 of which were registered during the voting process. Meanwhile, observers from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) did not report any violations.

One observer, representing a local NGO and stationed in a precinct in the Zeitun district, told the Armenian Weekly that a voter there had discovered the names of seven unidentified citizens who were registered to vote at his home address. In the same precinct, another voter discovered the name of her deceased mother on the voter list. After the observer inquired with the voter, she said that she had notified the precinct commission about irregularity.

Throughout the day, the Armenian Weekly was also notified about several unknown individuals loitering outside various precincts and observing voters enter and exit polling stations in various Yerevan districts, including Zeitun, Arabkir, Davtashen, and Kentron (downtown) Yerevan. Several instances of more than one person entering the voting booth were also reported.

On the evening of April 2, ARF Supreme Council of Armenia representative and ARF campaign manager Aghvan Vardanyan told reporters that he had appealed to the CEC and the Prosecutor General of Armenia, accusing RPA members of intimidating voters at precincts in the Gegharkunik and Araghatsotn provinces.

Vardanyan provided details about an incident in the town of Chambarak, where a group of RPA supporters tried to force ARF and opposition party/bloc representatives out of some polling stations. Vardanyan also said that a local RPA candidate had incited violence in certain villages in the Aragatsotn province, calling what had occurred a “fairly chaotic situation.”

Earlier on April 2, Sisak Gabrielian, a reporter for RFE/RL’s Armenian service, was physically assaulted by a group of men, said to be affiliated with the ruling RPA. Police in Yerevan confirmed the reports regarding the assault later in the day and announced that they were they are investigating the incident.

“The incident occurred after the journalist, Sisak Gabrielian, noticed that many voters in Yerevan’s Kond neighborhood are visiting a local campaign office of the ruling RPA just before going into a nearby polling station and casting ballots there. Some of them had cash in their hands as they left the office,” read a part of the RFE/RL’s report.

RPA spokesperson and Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Eduard Sharmazanov announced at a late-night news conference that the vote was “democratic, transparent, and competitive.” He also announced that the RPA is ready to extend its cooperation with the ARF, but would not be opposed working other potential coalition partners.

The RPA’s total votes may be enough for the party to form an absolute majority in the new Parliament. According to the Electoral Code, if any participating party or bloc achieves a minimum of 54 percent of the vote, they will be eligible to form government in their own right and their chosen individual will become the Prime Minister of Armenia.

If no party or bloc achieves a minimum of 50 percent +1 of the vote, they will be given an opportunity to negotiate with other parties or blocs to form a Coalition government. A maximum of three parties or blocs can form a Coalition government, and the Coalition government must be formed only by necessity of votes to cross the 54 percent threshold.

Before and during the elections, the RPA leadership repeatedly stated that if the party wins the vote, Prime Minister Karen Karapetian, who was appointed in Sept. 2016, will retain his post at least until President Serge Sarkisian completes his final presidential term in April 2018. </s> Armenia's My Step Alliance led by acting prime minister Nikol Pashinyan won the country's snap parliamentary election held on Dec. 9, winning 70.43 percent of the votes, according to the Central Election Commission on Monday.

With 100 percent of the votes counted, the ruling Republican Party of ex-president Serzh Sargsyan only achieved 4.70 percent, failing to exceed the 5 percent threshold necessary to enter parliament. </s> Acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s My Step Alliance won the country's snap parliamentary election with over 70 percent of the vote, the Central Election Commission said Monday after 100 percent of ballots were counted.

"The My Step bloc received 884,400 votes which accounts for 70.45 percent. The Prosperous Armenia party is second with 8.37 percent of the vote (103,800). The Bright Armenia party is third with 6.37 percent of the vote (just over 80,000)," the commission said in a statement on its website, having counted ballots from all 2,010 polling stations.

Meanwhile, Armenia's former ruling Republican Party for the first time failed to cross the 5-percent threshold to get into the country's parliament, having ensured only 4.7 percent of the vote. The Republican Party had seats in all successive parliaments from 1995 until now.

The Armenian police have received 144 reports of suspected irregularities during the Sunday snap parliamentary elections, the chief of the inspection department of the country’s police said.

READ MORE: Pashinyan Invites Renowned US Economist to Restore Armenia’s Economy

“On the election day, the police have registered 144 reports, including 58 of them reporting offenses and 86 others not containing obvious indications of crime, but which are subject to verification,” Col. Ashot Sargsyan said at the Central Electoral Commission (CEC)’s briefing.

On November 1, the country's president signed a decree to dissolve the parliament after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who is seeking to refresh Armenia's political system, resigned in late October in order to give a formal reason for the dissolution of the parliament and thus force early elections.

READ MORE: Kremlin Hopes Alliance With Armenia Remains Principle for Both Countries </s> Voter turnout at the start of Armenia's snap parliamentary elections following the legislature's dissolution last month has been average, election monitors said on Sunday.

According to the Armenian Central Electoral Commission, a total of 636,055 (24.53 percent) eligible voters had cast their ballots before 2 pm. </s> The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party’s Central Committee congratulates the citizens of the Republic of Armenia on conducting fair, free and transparent snap parliamentary elections.

Regardless of the results, this election is a victory not only for Armenian citizens, but for all Armenians. For decades, through the use of violence, fraud, and election rigging, the rights of Armenian citizens have been restored today as they had the opportunity to not only vote for their favorite candidates again, but also ensure that every vote is meaningful. This is undoubtedly one of the greatest achievements of the velvet revolution.

We hope that this election will be the beginning of a new political culture in Armenia. One based on democratic principles, where the overriding struggle will not be based on an individual or a group’s narrow interest, but rather one of policy and ideological outlook.

We also congratulate the victorious parties and hope the newly elected National Assembly and future government will immediately immerse themselves with overcoming the many challenges facing the country, for the sake of a democratic, socially just and prosperous Armenia.

was last modified: by </s> YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Preliminary results in Armenia's snap parliamentary election show the electoral bloc of the country's new leader winning an overwhelming majority.

A preliminary count from all precincts posted on the website of the Armenian Central Election Commission on Monday show Nikol Pashinian's My Step bloc with more than 70 percent of the vote.

A 43-year-old former journalist, Pashinian took over as prime minister in May after spearheading massive protests that forced his predecessor to step down. He had pushed for an early parliamentary election to win control of the chamber that was dominated by his political foes.

The former ruling Republican Party was shown polling less than 5 percent, which means it will be unlikely to make it into parliament.

The results have yet to be officially announced. </s> Polls in Armenia to elect members of parliament in the first vote after the velvet revolution closed at 8:00 pm on Sunday, December 9.

According to data provided by the Central Electoral Commission, 1.025 million (39.54%) eligible voters cast ballots in Armenia’s parliamentary elections as of 17:00 pm.

Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan swept to power after months of peaceful protests and a civil disobedience campaign as tens of thousands of people took to the streets across the country demanding the resignation of former authorities.

Election campaign launched across Armenia on November 26 with leaders of parties and alliances traveling to the various provinces of the country for 12 days through December 7.

Eleven political forces were running in elections, including two blocs – Im Kayl “(My Step) and Menk (We) – as well as nine parties – Prosperous Armenia, National Progress, Christian Democratic Revival, Sasna Tsrer, Rule of Law, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Bright Armenia, the Republican Party of Armenia, Citizen’s Decision Social-Democratic Party.

Pashinyan resigned on October 16 after sweeping to power back in May.

My Step, led by Pashinyan himself, is expected to get a majority in the new legislature. </s> Armenians voted Sunday in the country's first parliamentary election since the ex-Soviet nation modified its constitution to expand the powers of parliament and the prime minister. An exit poll released after voting stations closed showed the Republican Party of Armenia's president, Serzh Sargsyan, getting 46 percent of the vote, trailed by the bloc led by businessman Gagik Tsarukian with 29 percent.

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Armenian citizens vote in the country's first ever snap election and the first one since the Velvet Revolution.