Armenian officials say parliament party numbers could change

The Chairman of Armenia’s Central Election Commission (CEC), Vahagn Hovakimyan, has said that no violations were recorded during the June 7 parliamentary elections that could have affected the results, adding that the number of parties entering parliament is still unclear.

Preliminary CEC data shows that three political forces are currently set to enter parliament following the June 7 vote, Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenian media.

Hovakimyan supported a full recount of votes at all polling stations,

“We are now at a point where the threshold for a political force to enter parliament can effectively be determined by just a few votes. Therefore, we need a very accurate picture,” Hovakimyan said.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party leads with 49.825% of the vote. The Strong Armenia bloc, led by Russian businessman Samvel Karapetyan, has 23.281%, while the Armenia bloc of former President Robert Kocharyan has 9.934%.

The Prosperous Armenia party of businessman Gagik Tsarukyan has received 3.996%, slightly below the 4% threshold required for parliamentary representation. Officials said a recount could still change the outcome.

Voter turnout stood at 58.97%, with Civil Contract expected to secure a simple majority and form the next government independently.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov