Armenia PM claims early victory in snap polls
22 June, 2021
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan claimed victory in early stages Monday in snap parliamentary elections called to defuse a political crisis after a disastrous war with Azerbaijan.
Preliminary results from Sunday's polls showed Mr Pashinyan's party leading with 58 per cent of the vote, far before former president Robert Kocharyan's Armenian Alliance with 18.8 %.
Official results predicated on ballots from 47 % of precincts showed an added party gathering a lot more than 5 per cent of the vote.
Mr Kocharyan's alliance said early on Monday that it would not recognise Mr Pashinyan's claim to victory.
"A huge selection of signals from polling stations testifying to organised and planned falsifications serve as a serious reason for insufficient trust," the bloc said.
It could not recognise the results until the "violations" were studied, it said.
The election has been regarded as a two-horse race, with Mr Pashinyan and Mr Kocharyan drawing massive crowds in the run-up to the polls.
"The people of Armenia gave our Civil Contract party a mandate to lead the united states and personally me to lead the united states as Prime Minister," Mr Pashinyan announced in the first hours of Monday.
"We already know that people won a convincing victory in the elections and we'll have a convincing majority in Parliament."
He urged supporters to carefully turn up at Yerevan's main square on Monday evening.
The vote had been accompanied by Armenia's Soviet-era master Russia, arch-foe Azerbaijan and Turkey, which backed Azerbaijan in the six-week war over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh this past year.
Despite stifling heat, almost 50 % around 2.6 million eligible voters cast their ballots, election officials said.
Some observers said turnout in the South Caucasus country of three million people was greater than expected.
Throughout a campaign marred by polarising speech, Mr Pashinyan had said he expected his Civil Contract party to secure 60 % of the vote.
On the streets of Yerevan on Sunday, Armenians voiced conflicting opinions about Mr Pashinyan.
Voter Anahit Sargsyan said the prime minister deserved another chance.
Ms Sargsyan, 63, feared the return of the old guard who she accused of plundering the united states.
"I voted against a go back to the old ways," the former teacher said.
Another voter, Vardan Hovhannisyan, said he cast his ballot for Mr Kocharyan, who calls Russian President Vladimir Putin his friend.
"I voted for secure borders, solidarity in society, the return of our war prisoners, the well-being of the wounded and a solid army," said Mr Hovhannisyan, 41, a musician.
Critics blame Mr Pashinyan for having given up territory in and around Karabakh to Azerbaijan in a humiliating truce agreement, and say he didn't deliver reforms.
Mr Pashinyan has said he previously to consent to the Moscow-brokered peace cope with Azerbaijan to avoid further human and territorial losses.
A lot more than 6,500 persons were killed in the war, according to the latest official figures from Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Besides Mr Kocharyan, two other leaders of post-Soviet Armenia backed parties in the race. All three oppose Mr Pashinyan.
Voting happened in relative calm, but Mr Kocharyan needed a study into leaflets attacking him, and his bloc also alleged irregularities.
Mr Kocharyan was accused of rigging a presidential election towards his hand-picked ally and presiding over a deadly crackdown on protesters in 2008.
Armenia won international praise for holding its first free and fair vote under Mr Pashinyan in 2018.
Throughout a venomous campaign, applicants exchanged insults and threats.
Mr Pashinyan, 46, brandished a hammer at rallies, while Mr Kocharyan, 66, said he would be ready to fight the prime minister in a duel.
A record four electoral blocs and 21 parties ran for election but only a handful are anticipated to win seats in Parliament.
A winning party needs to obtain at least 50 % of seats and something and can be assigned more to form a government.
Source: www.thenationalnews.com
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