Pashinyan claims election victory with only fraction of votes counted

By Lia Avagyan

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan declared victory in the country’s parliamentary election early on Monday and said his ruling Civil Contract party would form a sole-party government, despite only a small portion of ballots having been counted.

Speaking at Civil Contract’s election headquarters at around 2:10 a.m., Pashinyan said his party had secured a mandate to govern alone. At the time of his remarks, approximately 15% of votes had been counted.

In Yerevan, results had been tabulated from just 22 polling stations, representing about 19,000 votes, despite roughly 497,000 people having voted in the capital. Nationwide turnout stood at about 1.497 million voters.

Asked how he could declare victory before the completion of the count, Pashinyan said the party had representatives at every polling station and was receiving information directly from them.

“I want to emphasize that the Civil Contract party has received more votes than it did in 2021,” Pashinyan said. “This vote of confidence is an obligation. It means that the citizens of the Republic of Armenia have stood by the state, independence, the future and peace.”

According to preliminary results available at the time, Civil Contract was leading with about 53% of the vote. The opposition Strong Armenia alliance, led by businessman Samvel Karapetyan, was in second place with 23%, followed by the Armenia alliance of former President Robert Kocharyan with 9%. The Prosperous Armenia Party was on 4.5%.

Pashinyan also launched a sharp attack on his main political rivals, saying Samvel Karapetyan, Robert Kocharyan and Prosperous Armenia leader Gagik Tsarukyan were involved in vote-buying and should be imprisoned. The political forces led by all three figures appeared on course to enter parliament, according to the preliminary results.

The election took place against the backdrop of heightened political tensions and intense competition between the ruling party and a fragmented opposition. Turnout reached 59%, according to preliminary figures from the Central Electoral Commission, significantly higher than the 49.4% recorded in the 2021 parliamentary election and the 48.6% recorded in 2018.

Civil Contract entered the election as the frontrunner in most pre-election surveys, though opposition parties had hoped higher turnout would narrow the gap.

Pashinyan declined to answer a question about whether his party would fall short of the two-thirds parliamentary majority required to pass constitutional amendments through parliament. The prime minister has repeatedly pledged to adopt a new constitution and remove references to Armenia’s 1990 Declaration of Independence from its preamble.

The issue has become a key point in Armenia’s negotiations with Azerbaijan. Baku argues that references in the declaration amount to territorial claims against Azerbaijan and must be removed before a final peace agreement can be signed. The Armenian government has acknowledged the need for constitutional reform but rejects claims that the process is being carried out in response to Azerbaijani demands.