AZE.US
Polls closed in Armenia on Sunday after a closely watched parliamentary election that could determine the country’s foreign policy direction and the future of its peace process with Azerbaijan.
Final turnout stood at 58.97%, according to Armenia’s Central Electoral Commission. A total of 1,476,597 people voted out of 2,503,976 eligible voters.
Participation was nearly 10 percentage points higher than in the previous parliamentary election in 2021, when turnout was about 49.4%.
Vote counting began after polling stations closed at 8 p.m. local time. No official results had been announced at the time of publication.
The election was widely viewed as a test of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s efforts to reach a peace agreement with Azerbaijan, normalize relations with Turkey and reduce Armenia’s political and security dependence on Russia.
Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party entered the election as the single largest political force, but several opposition groups hoped that their combined vote would deny the governing party a parliamentary majority.
A final pre-election survey released on June 5 placed Civil Contract in first place with 32.4% support.
The Strong Armenia bloc, associated with businessman Samvel Karapetyan, was second with 16.4%, followed by former President Robert Kocharyan’s Armenia alliance with 15.2%.
Prosperous Armenia received 8.8% in the poll, while the Wings of Unity party led by former Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan had 6.2%.
Combined support for those four opposition forces stood at 46.6%. The figure was calculated by adding their individual ratings and did not represent the result of a single opposition coalition.
The survey was conducted by MPG, the Armenian representative of Gallup International Association, through telephone interviews with 1,104 respondents on June 2 and 3.
Those figures were voting intentions recorded before election day. They were not exit-poll findings and should not be treated as preliminary election results.
The campaign unfolded amid growing tensions between Yerevan and Moscow.
Russia has criticized Armenia’s attempts to deepen cooperation with the European Union and the United States. Moscow has also warned that full EU integration would be incompatible with continued membership in the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union.
Pashinyan said after casting his ballot that he did not believe Armenia’s relations with Russia were in crisis. He described the tension as artificial and said bilateral ties remained institutional and based on mutual respect.
His main opponents accused the government of weakening Armenia’s traditional relationship with Moscow and making excessive concessions in negotiations with Azerbaijan.
Pashinyan argued that a renewed mandate would allow his government to continue the peace process and pursue a more balanced foreign policy.
The outcome will determine the composition of Armenia’s next National Assembly and whether Pashinyan can remain prime minister without relying on a coalition.
Official preliminary results are expected as election officials process ballots and protocols from polling stations across the country.
AZE.US