Armenia PM Wins Vote, Cementing Country’s Westward Tilt

Armenia’s governing Civil Contract party captured just under half the vote in a parliamentary election that doubled as a referendum on its peace push with Azerbaijan and its steady turn toward the West, away from longtime patron Russia.

With ballots counted from every polling station, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s party secured 49.8% of the vote, according to results released today by the Central Election Commission (CEC), slipping from the 54% it won in the 2021 election.

The count also pointed to a stronger-than-anticipated showing for three main pro-Russian opposition forces, which together took 37% of the vote and are, on a preliminary basis, set to enter parliament alongside Civil Contract.

Yesterday’s ballot was Armenia’s first general election since its devastating military ‌defeat to Azerbaijan in 2023, following ⁠years of conflict and recurring political upheaval.

“The Armenian people voted for regional prosperity and co-operation and I hope this will draw a positive response from Turkey and Azerbaijan,” he said, while vowing to keep deepening ties with both the West and Russia.

Government ⁠accused of rigging the vote

Even so, the outcome leaves Mr Pashinyan with a complicated mandate. He ‌did not secure the two-thirds parliamentary majority needed to call the constitutional referendum sought by Azerbaijan as part of a peace agreement, aimed at ending a conflict that has flared ⁠intermittently since the late 1980s, and to normalise relations with Turkey, Azerbaijan’s key ally.

The final breakdown ‌of seats in parliament remains uncertain.

Several Armenian opposition groups challenged the ⁠result and criticised Mr Pashinyan’s ‌victory speech, which he delivered when returns from only a little more than one-fifth of the country’s 2,005 polling sites showed his party on roughly 54% of the vote.

The prime minister’s chief challenger, Samvel Karapetyan — a Russian-Armenian billionaire who launched Strong Armenia last year and ran on a pro-business message — accused the government ⁠of manipulating the election.

“Rest assured the elections are not over yet and there areno results. They (the authorities) will not get ⁠the victory they desire,” Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.

The Armenia Alliance said Mr Pashinyan’s declaration came too early and amounted to “pressure on the CEC and usurpation of power,” Interfax reported.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which monitored the election, is due to hold a press conference this morning.

Three opposition groups cleared the threshold toget into parliament: the Strong Armenia alliance with 23.2%, the Armenia Alliance with 9.9%, and the Prosperous Armenia party with 4%.

Turnout in the landlocked ‌nation of three million was robust, with nearly 59% of eligible voters casting ballots.