What Will be the Makeup of Armenias Next Parliament?
Armenias Central Electoral Commission on Monday verified the preliminary results of Sundays snap parliamentary elections, providing an overall picture of what the next parliament in Armenia will look like and how the seats will be distributed. CEC Chairman Tigran Mukuchyan said a the commissions board meeting, which was live-streamed, that acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans Civil Contract Party garnered 53.92 percent of the votes. In second place, with 21.04 percent of the votes, is the Armenia (Hayastan) Alliance led by former president Robert Kocharian and includes the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. Trailing far behind in third place with 5.23 percent of the votes is the I Have Honor alliance between former president Serzh Sarkisians Republican Party of Armenia and the Homeland Party headed by former national security adviser Arthur Vanetsyan. Political parties needed to garner five percent of the votes, while electoral alliances needed to pass the eight-percent threshold to secure seats in parliament. While the I Have Honor alliance did not get the necessary eight-percent of the votes, nevertheless it will be represented in parliament as Armenias law stipulates that parliament must be comprised of more than two parties. Preliminary estimates suggest that Pashinyan Civil Contract will hold 72 seats, with Armenia Alliance garnering 28 sears. The remaining seven seats will go to the I Have Honor alliance. Mukuchyan, the CEC head, also announced that 1,282,411 people, or 49.4 percent of registered voters took part in Sundays elections. Some 500 people voted online from abroad. These constitute Armenian citizens who are working at the countrys various diplomatic missions. The CEC declared 4,682 as invalid. The CEC has seven days to publicize the final results of the elections.