Armenia's My Step Alliance led by acting prime minister Nikol Pashinyan won the country's snap parliamentary election held on Dec. 9, winning 70.43 percent of the votes, according to the Central Election Commission on Monday.

With 100 percent of the votes counted, the ruling Republican Party of ex-president Serzh Sargsyan only achieved 4.70 percent, failing to exceed the 5 percent threshold necessary to enter parliament. </s> YEREVAN (Reuters) - Armenia’s acting prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, is on his way to bolstering his authority as his political bloc appeared to have taken a clear lead in elections in the ex-Soviet country on Sunday, the Central Election Commission’s (CEC) preliminary results showed.

My Step Alliance, which includes Pashinyan’s Civil Contract Party, won over 70 percent of the vote based on results from more than 50 percent of the polling stations, the CEC said on its website.

Results showed that two moderate opposition parties got enough votes to enter parliament as they had cleared the 5 percent threshold. </s> YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Preliminary results in Armenia's snap parliamentary election show the electoral bloc of the country's new leader winning an overwhelming majority.

A preliminary count from all precincts posted on the website of the Armenian Central Election Commission on Monday show Nikol Pashinian's My Step bloc with more than 70 percent of the vote.

A 43-year-old former journalist, Pashinian took over as prime minister in May after spearheading massive protests that forced his predecessor to step down. He had pushed for an early parliamentary election to win control of the chamber that was dominated by his political foes.

The former ruling Republican Party was shown polling less than 5 percent, which means it will be unlikely to make it into parliament.

The results have yet to be officially announced. </s> Acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s My Step Alliance won the country's snap parliamentary election with over 70 percent of the vote, the Central Election Commission said Monday after 100 percent of ballots were counted.

"The My Step bloc received 884,400 votes which accounts for 70.45 percent. The Prosperous Armenia party is second with 8.37 percent of the vote (103,800). The Bright Armenia party is third with 6.37 percent of the vote (just over 80,000)," the commission said in a statement on its website, having counted ballots from all 2,010 polling stations.

Meanwhile, Armenia's former ruling Republican Party for the first time failed to cross the 5-percent threshold to get into the country's parliament, having ensured only 4.7 percent of the vote. The Republican Party had seats in all successive parliaments from 1995 until now.

The Armenian police have received 144 reports of suspected irregularities during the Sunday snap parliamentary elections, the chief of the inspection department of the country’s police said.

READ MORE: Pashinyan Invites Renowned US Economist to Restore Armenia’s Economy

“On the election day, the police have registered 144 reports, including 58 of them reporting offenses and 86 others not containing obvious indications of crime, but which are subject to verification,” Col. Ashot Sargsyan said at the Central Electoral Commission (CEC)’s briefing.

On November 1, the country's president signed a decree to dissolve the parliament after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who is seeking to refresh Armenia's political system, resigned in late October in order to give a formal reason for the dissolution of the parliament and thus force early elections.

READ MORE: Kremlin Hopes Alliance With Armenia Remains Principle for Both Countries </s> Acting Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan’s bloc ‘My Step’ has won 70.4 percent of the vote based on results from all polling stations, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said on its website. The ‘My Step’ alliance includes Pashinyan’s Civil Contract Party. The Prosperous Armenia and the Armenian Renaissance parties have entered the parliament, scoring 8.27 percent and 6.37 percent of the vote respectively, TASS reports. The Republican Party of Armenia, the former leading party, failed to surpass the five percent mark, scoring just 4.7 percent of the vote. The Dashnakthutyun faction received 3.89 percent of votes. Other parties involved in the parliamentary election received less than two percent of the vote. Voter turnout at the early parliamentary polls on Sunday was 48.63 percent, according to the CEC. Turnout for previous parliamentary elections was 60.84 percent. </s> Armenia's acting prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, is on his way to bolstering his authority as his political bloc appeared to have taken a clear lead in elections in the ex-Soviet country on Sunday, the Central Election Commission's (CEC) preliminary results showed.

YEREVAN: Armenia's acting prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, is on his way to bolstering his authority as his political bloc appeared to have taken a clear lead in elections in the ex-Soviet country on Sunday, the Central Election Commission's (CEC) preliminary results showed.

My Step Alliance, which includes Pashinyan's Civil Contract Party, won over 70 percent of the vote based on results from more than 50 percent of the polling stations, the CEC said on its website.

Results showed that two moderate opposition parties got enough votes to enter parliament as they had cleared the 5 percent threshold. </s> YEREVAN, DECEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS. Soon after the preliminary vote count results of the general election of Armenia were released by the country’s Central Electoral Commission, news media from around the world shifted their spotlight on Armenia.

“Armenia’s acting prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, has bolstered his authority after his political bloc won early parliamentary elections,” the Guardian said.

“Armenian citizens created a revolutionary majority at the parliament,” the British daily newspaper quoted Pashinyan as saying at his bloc’s HQ after the first results were published.

Sputnik News noted that the Republican Party of Armenia, the former ruling party, for the first time failed to cross the 5-percent threshold to get into the country's parliament, garnering only 4.7 percent of the vote.

“Acting Armenian PM's bloc easily wins parliamentary vote”, Reuters reported.

“Armenia's acting PM Nikol Pashinyan wins by landslide”, said Euronews, referring to the overwhelming 70,43% of votes garnered by My Step Alliance, which includes Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party.

Nearly 40 foreign news media have accredited at the foreign ministry to cover the general election.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan said earlier on Facebook the foreign news outlets have accredited more than 80 journalists.

"After the elections, we will be developing Armenian democracy and make an economic revolution happen," France24 quoted Pashinyan telling reporters after casting his ballot on December 9 in Yerevan.

“Armenians appeared to overwhelmingly back protest leader and current acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in early parliamentary elections on Sunday”, reported the German Deutsche Welle.

The newspaper notes that the former ruling party “suffered a massive defeat and came in at just over 4 percent, according to the early results. “

The Turkish press also covered the election, with TRT World quoting Pashinyan as saying : "An economic revolution is our top priority," after voting.

Iran’s PressTV noted Pashinyan’s “landslide victory”, that enabled the premier to “consolidate his authority months after he rose to power”.

The Central Electoral Commission of Armenia has released the preliminary results from all 2010 polling stations in the country of the general election vote.

According to the CEC, caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s My Step Alliance has won a landslide victory with 70,43 % - with 884,456 votes.

The Republican Party of Armenia garnered only 4,70% - 59,059 votes.

Citizens Decision Social-Democratic Party received 0,68%, with 8530 votes.

Bargavatch Hayastan (Prosperous Armenia) Party received 8,27%, with 103,824 votes.

The ARF, or the Dashnaktsutyun, garnered 3,89% with 48,811 votes.

Lusavor Hayastan (Luminous Armenia) Party got 6,37% - 80,024 votes.

2619 voters (0,50%) cast ballots for the Christian-People’s Rebirth Party.

The National Progress Party and the Menk (We) Alliance garnered 0,51% (6456 votes) and 2,00% (25,174) respectively.

Orinats Yerkir Party (Rule of Law) garnered 0,99% with 12,389 votes, and the Sasna Tsrer Pan-Armenian Party got 1,82% with 22,862 votes.

According to preliminary information the turnout was 48.63%.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan </s> Armenia's parliament on Tuesday elected the until-now leader of the opposition as the country's new prime minister, two weeks after massive anti-government protests led to his predecessor's resignation.

Nikol Pashinyan, who leads the liberal Yelk ("Way Out") coalition, received 59 votes from his fellow lawmakers in the National Assembly, six more than the minimum needed to become head of government. </s> Armenians are casting their votes in early parliamentary elections Sunday.

Reformist leader Nikol Pashinian, 43, swept to power in May after weeks of anti-government protests that forced the sudden resignation of Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan, who was also a former president of Armenia.

Sargsyan’s ruling Republican Party, however, blocked Pashinian’s bid to become prime minister, resulting in more protests. The Republican Party then decided to back Pashinian for what it said was the good of the nation.

Armenia



Pashinian became prime minister, but recently stepped down so parliament could be dissolved for the early election. He remains Armenia’s acting prime minister.

Analysts expect him to be re-instated in office, with his My Step alliance in control of parliament.

Pashinian, a former newspaper editor who had been imprisoned for his activism, has promised to maintain close ties with Russia and fight corruption. He has also pledged to “step up cooperation with the United States and European Union.” </s> The electoral bloc of Armenia's acting premier Nikol Pashinian was in the lead according to early results in Sunday's snap parliamentary elections triggered by the reformist leader, who is aiming to cement his political authority in the post-Soviet country.

The bloc led by Pashiniayn's Civil Contract party had 70.25 percent of the votes, and in second place with 9.15 percent was the Prosperous Armenia party, according to results from 25 percent of precincts, the central election commission said.

The 43-year-old former journalist became prime minister in May after spearheading weeks of peaceful anti-government rallies that ousted veteran leader Serzh Sargsyan.

However Pashinian's reform drive was stalled for months by opposition from Sargsyan's ruling party which dominated parliament.

After weeks of political manoeuvring by the prime minister and more street protests, the parliament was dissolved last month.

Pashinian's party is expected to get a majority in the new legislature, allowing him to push ahead with his campaign to reshape the South Caucasus nation's political landscape and spark an "economic revolution."

"We will turn Armenia into an industrial, high-tech, export-oriented country," Pashinian told supporters at a rally last week, pledging "the best elections Armenia has ever seen" and ruling out ballot stuffing and voter intimidation.

Last month, Pashinian stepped down as prime minister to pave the way for snap elections under a clause in Armenian law. He is currently acting prime minister.

Observers expect him to return to the post with his party in control of parliament.

Parliamentary elections had not been scheduled to be held until 2022.

Pashinian has pledged to root out endemic corruption and address widespread poverty, earning him supporters in the impoverished landlocked nation of about three million people.

"He organized this revolution well and intelligently," construction worker Georgi Grigoryan said of Pashinian. "We all hope that now everything will work out well."

On foreign policy, Pashinian has said Armenia will "further strengthen (our) strategic alliance with Russia and, at the same time, step up cooperation with the United States and European Union."

Analysts say Pashinian sought new elections while he is at the peak of his popularity.

In September, his bloc had a landslide victory in municipal elections, winning more than 80 percent of the vote in the capital Yerevan, where nearly 40 percent of the former Soviet Republic's population lives.

"The elections were called on the wave of a revolutionary euphoria," analyst Gevorg Poghosyan told French Press Agency (AFP).

"But after the polls, that sentiment will inevitably weaken and Pashinian and his team will face a reality check."

While many in Armenia have high expectations, others already started to complain about slow progress.

"I will be voting for Pashinian, because I believe he will jail all the corrupt officials who were pillaging the state for many years," Iveta Bakhshyan, a 43-year-old flower vendor in Yerevan, told AFP.

Meanwhile, pensioner Simon Martirosyan, 67, said he will not vote for Pashinian's party because "they failed to achieve any tangible results."

"Nothing has changed in my life during the seven months of Pashinian's rule, people are not better off," he told AFP in Yerevan.

Nine political parties and two electoral blocs are competing for mandates in the 101-seat legislature.

A party needs at least five percent of the votes to get elected in the parliament, while an electoral bloc must clear a seven-percent barrier.

Polls opened at 0400 GMT and will close at 1600 GMT. Results are expected to be released in the early hours on Monday.
Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's My Step Alliance bloc wins 70.4% of the vote.