Party of incumbent PM Pashinyan wins Armenian elections

Armenia's Central Election Commission has announced the victory of the ruling Civil Pact party in the parliamentary elections. According to the preliminary results of the ballot counting, the political force of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan won the support of 49.8% of voters, Armenia Today reports.

The Strong Armenia party of Russian billionaire of Armenian origin Samvel Karapetyan (Forbes estimates his fortune at $4.1 billion) came second with 23.3% of the votes. Next came former President Robert Kocharyan's Armenia Bloc with 9.9% of the vote and, according to Bloomberg, Armenian businessman Gagik Tsarukyan's Prosperous Armenia Party, which at the last minute managed to pass the 4% threshold for entering parliament (gaining about 4%).

In Armenia's new National Assembly, Pashinyan's Civil Pact party will get 61 mandates out of 105, the Strong Armenia bloc will get 28 mandates, the Armenia bloc 11 and Prosperous Armenia 5, News.am notes.

This result secures Nikol Pashinyan's third consecutive term as prime minister of Armenia (he has led the government since 2018), but does not give him the constitutional majority in parliament needed to change the basic law or call referendums, Bloomberg notes. This could complicate his plans to make the constitutional amendments demanded by Azerbaijan as part of a final peace agreement designed to end more than three decades of conflict over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, and could also stall progress on Yerevan's long-term goal of integration with the European Union.

Speaking to reporters, Pashinyan said that Armenia is not in a position to start the process of joining the European Union, as the country is "not ready" for it, Bloomberg reports. He noted that he would not determine the timeframe for starting this procedure, adding that the final decision will be made at the referendum.

Pashinyan called the restrictions imposed on Armenia by Russia in the run-up to the elections a "working issue" and "artificial tension". According to him, such disputes are routine within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). This is how he commented on the fact that Moscow imposed restrictions on the import of Armenian agricultural products, including fruits and vegetables, before the elections. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan called these measures "economic sanctions," Bloomberg writes. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said on May 20 that Armenia's approach of maintaining membership in the EAEU before transitioning to the EU is "absolutely unacceptable" to Ma, Bloomberg reports. "Armenia will not be able to dance at two weddings at the same time," Galuzin said.

Before the election, Pashinyan was supported by US President Donald Trump. A partnership with Yerevan to manage the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) transportation corridor, which connects Azerbaijan with its exclave of Nakhichevan through Armenian territory, would give the U.S. a foothold in the region for potentially a century to come, Bloomberg writes.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor