Armenia: Nikol Pachinian at the head of the early legislative elections

Published on : 06/21/2021 – 00:27

The Armenians counted, Sunday evening June 20, the votes at the end of early legislative elections. According to partial results published by the Central Election Commission of this former Soviet Caucasian republic, the party of Prime Minister Nikol Pachinian leads with 59% of the vote against 19% for his main rival, the former president. Robert Kotcharian, after the counting of the ballots in more than 30% of the polling stations.

Before the official results were announced, Nikol Pachinian claimed victory. “The Armenian people gave our Civil Contract party the mandate to rule the country,” he said during a speech broadcast live on his Facebook page.

Former journalist Pachinian, 46, brought to power in 2018 by a peaceful revolution against old corrupt elites, faced former President Kocharian, 66, who accuses his rival of incompetence and poses as an experienced leader.

About 2.6 million Armenian voters were called to the polls to elect at least 101 deputies for five years. Participation reached 49.4%, compared to 48.6% in 2018.

Anahit Sargsian, a 63-year-old former professor in Yerevan, voted “against the old ways”, when “roads were only built on paper and stolen public funds”, and against “untouchable people to whom everything was permit “. “If Nikol leaves, it will all come back,” she said.

Denounced violations

The electoral campaign has shown a deep division between the two camps and experts expect protests and even violence in Armenia after the poll.

Two formations, including that of Mr. Kotcharian, denounced violations. “Overall, the elections were held in accordance with the law,” said the Central Election Commission.

Observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) tasked with monitoring the transparency of the ballot will present their preliminary findings at 11 a.m. GMT on Monday.

With AFP