Armenia PM declares 'historic victory' as vote tallying continues in parliamentary vote

Armenia PM declares 'historic victory' as vote tallying continues in parliamentary vote

Election seen as test for Nikol Pashinyan's push to deepen ties with West

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan declared victory early Monday in a parliamentary election after results from just over one-fifth of ‌polling sites showed his party with about 54 per cent of the vote.

At a news 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 per cent of polling stations by the time Pashinyan gave his news conference.

Sunday's vote, Armenia's ​first general election since a crushing military defeat by Azerbaijan ⁠in 2023, was ⁠viewed as a test of ‌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 per cent of the vote and the pro-Russian Strong Armenia alliance in second place, with 21.9 per cent of the vote. The Armenia Alliance was in third place ‌with 8.7 per cent, and the Prosperous Armenia party was trailing in fourth with roughly five per cent.

Turnout in the landlocked country of three million was strong at nearly 59 per cent of eligible voters. The Central ​Election Commission is expected to announce official preliminary voting results later 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.

Samvel ⁠Karapetyan, his key rival who founded Strong Armenia ​last year, 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 normalize relations with Turkey, a ⁠key ally of Azerbaijan.