Armenia’s Pashinyan declares victory in parliamentary election, vote counting continues

YEREVAN, June 8 (Reuters) – Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan declared victory on Monday in a parliamentary ​election after results from just over one-fifth of polling sites showed ‌his party with around 54% of the vote.

In a press conference in the early hours of Monday morning, Pashinyan said his Civil Contract party had prevailed, calling ​it a “historic victory”.

Armenia’s election commission had released early results from about ​21% of polling stations by the time Pashinyan gave his ⁠press conference.

Sunday’s vote, Armenia’s first general election since a crushing military defeat ​by Azerbaijan in 2023, was viewed as a test of Prime Minister Nikol ​Pashinyan’s push to deepen ties with the West and secure a peace deal with Azerbaijan after years of conflict and political turbulence.

The early results showed Civil Contract clinching 54.5% ​of the vote and pro-Russian Strong Armenia alliance in second place, ​with 21.9% of the votes. The Armenia Alliance was in third place with 8.7%, and ‌the ⁠Prosperous Armenia party was trailing in fourth with roughly 5%.

Turnout in the landlocked country of 3 million was strong at nearly 59% of eligible voters. The Central Election Commission is expected to announce official preliminary voting ​results on Monday.

Pashinyan’s Civil ​Contract, which ⁠has brought Armenia closer to the West since taking power in 2018, squared off against three main pro-Russian opposition ​parties.

His key rival is Samvel Karapetyan, who founded Strong ​Armenia last ⁠year and campaigned on a pro-business platform and a pledge to maintain Armenia’s close ties to Russia.

A strong showing for Pashinyan would give him a ⁠mandate ​to conclude peace negotiations with Azerbaijan, which has ​been at war with Armenia intermittently since the late 1980s, and to normalise relations with ​Turkey, a key ally of Azerbaijan.