Armenia’s Civil Contract reveals preliminary list of PM candidates

The Armenian Civil Contract party has unveiled its slate of prime ministerial candidates after completing the first round of internal voting, held from February 13 to 15 at the party’s central office.

As Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenian media, the preliminary top ten are: Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (894 votes); Defence Minister Suren Papikyan (780); Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan (765); Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan (743); Member of Parliament Vahagn Aleksanyan (697); Deputy Speaker of Parliament Ruben Rubinyan (687); Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister Arayik Harutyunyan (668); head of the Civil Contract parliamentary faction ayk Konjoryan (663); Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan (628); and Labor Minister Arsen Torosyan (620).  

The second round of voting is slated for March 27–28, during which party delegates will select the official prime ministerial candidate and finalize the order of the list. Pashinyan had earlier stated on February 13 that the complete list would be ratified in April. He further explained that the proportional candidate list and the party’s election program for the upcoming National Assembly elections will be approved through an open vote during the plenary session of the party congress.

Armenia is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections on June 7.

By Vafa Guliyeva