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Pashinian Supporters Grab Massive Lead In Early Voting
RFE/RL's Armenian Service September 23, 2018
Early results in the Yerevan municipal elections indicate the alliance backed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian is cruising to a landslide victory in the first major test of the new Armenian leader's political strength.
The Central Election Commission said early on September 24 that results from more than 15 percent of polling stations show the My Step alliance with 80.73 percent of the vote.
Voters in the Armenian capital were electing the 65 members of the city council -- the Council of Elders -- after Taron Markarian of the Republican Party resigned as mayor in July after seven years in office. The former ruling party is not participating in the municipal vote.
The elections in Yerevan, where nearly half of the country's population lives, were seen as a major test for the new government of Pashinian, whose popularity is based on his anticorruption and economic-reform stance.
Pashinian became prime minister in May after leading a wave of antigovernment protests in May. He still faces an Armenian Parliament that consists mainly of members of the Republican Party.
Armenia's opposition has for years complained that elections were rigged to favor the ruling party.
My Step's closest rival, the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) of wealthy businessman Gagik Tsarukian, has 7.22 percent, enough so far to overcome the 6 percent barrier for political parties to enter the 65-member city council.
Lawmaker Naira Zohrabian topped the list of the BHK.
The Luys alliance, led by current Justice Minister Artak Zeynalian, is in third place with 5.08 percent. Political alliances need 8 percent hurdle to enter the city council.
Under Armenian law, however, the city council must consist of at least three factions. If only one grouping qualifies, the second and third blocs will be admitted to the council even if they fall short of the required levels.
Another nine political parties and alliances each have around 1 percent of the vote or less, including parliamentary party the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.
A political party or bloc winning more than half of the vote will automatically have its top candidate installed as mayor of Yerevan. The pro-Pashinian alliance is led by popular actor and producer Hayk Marutian.
In an interview with RFE/RL earlier on September 23, Central Electoral Commission head Tigran Mukuchian said that there was "a generally calm atmosphere" at polling stations across Yerevan.
The police reported 84 alerts concerning alleged violations during the elections, including some claims of vote buying, two cases of obstruction of the work of members of the electoral commission, several attempts of a repeat vote, and voting in place of another person.
Police said that investigations have been ordered in 18 cases, while preliminary inquiries into others are under way.
After casting his ballot, Pashinian expressed satisfaction with the "heated" election campaign ahead of the vote.
"This election campaign was a real campaign, and all the forces, including the current government, understood that they must fight for every vote," he said.
Ahead of the vote, Pashinian urged Yerevan residents to give him an overwhelming support, insisting that a landslide victory in the Yerevan elections will give his political team a mandate to force snap parliamentary elections in the country.
About 44 percent of some 850,000 registered voters went to the snap polls in Yerevan.
The number of voters has increased by some 25,000 as compared with the 2017 elections, the election panel said.
With reporting by AFP
Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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