Pashinyan Wins Third Consecutive Term as Prime Minister, Opposition Questions Election Results

Armenia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) has finalized preliminary results from all 2,005 polling stations in the country’s parliamentary election, showing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party securing enough support to govern alone for a third consecutive term.

According to the CEC, Civil Contract won 727,160 votes, or 49.81% of ballots cast, placing it well ahead of its nearest challenger, the Strong Armenia Alliance, which received 340,062 votes, or 23.29%.

The opposition Armenia Alliance, led by former President Robert Kocharyan, finished third with 145,097 votes, or 9.94%.

More than 1.47 million Armenians participated in the June 7 vote, representing a turnout of 58.97% of registered voters.

The election took place during heightened political tensions, deep divisions over Armenia’s security and foreign policy direction, and an increasingly polarized campaign season.

While the preliminary results indicate that Civil Contract has retained a parliamentary majority, opposition parties have yet to formally recognize the outcome.

The Strong Armenia Alliance, backed by billionaire businessman Samvel Karapetyan, said it would announce its official position after reviewing election data and reports from polling stations.

“We will present a more comprehensive assessment once the reports and calculations have been fully finalized,” said Narek Karapetyan, who headed the alliance’s electoral list.

In a video statement released overnight, Samvel Karapetyan described the election as “a disgrace” and alleged that his political movement had faced systematic pressure throughout the campaign.

He claimed that dozens of alliance members had been arrested and hundreds of supporters detained in the weeks leading up to the vote.

Karapetyan also accused authorities of manipulating the vote-counting process, alleging that the publication of results had been delayed after opposition support increased in urban areas. He did not provide evidence to support the claims.

The ruling Civil Contract party has rejected accusations of political persecution, maintaining that law enforcement actions targeted only individuals suspected of violating Armenian law.

The Armenia Alliance has also withheld its final position on the election results. Representatives of the bloc said internal discussions are ongoing and that a formal statement regarding possible legal or political steps will be issued in the coming days.

The most controversial dispute has centered on the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), led by businessman Gagik Tsarukyan.

Early results published by the CEC appeared to place BHK above the 4% electoral threshold required for parliamentary representation. However, updated figures released later Monday showed the party receiving 58,378 votes, or 3.996%, leaving it just 0.004 percentage points below the threshold.

CEC Chairman Vahagn Hovakimyan said the 4% figure initially displayed on the commission’s website had been rounded and that the party’s actual result fell short of the legal requirement.

BHK representatives strongly contested the revised figures.

Party spokesperson Iveta Tonoyan accused election authorities of what she called “numerical manipulation” and announced that the party would seek recounts at multiple polling stations.

According to Tonoyan, comparisons between official polling station protocols and figures published on the CEC website revealed discrepancies involving votes recorded for BHK at several locations.

Among the examples cited by the party were polling stations where protocols allegedly showed dozens of votes for BHK while the CEC website displayed only one or a handful of votes.

Tonoyan said the evidence had been formally submitted to election authorities and that corrections were already being processed.

The party also said it was considering challenging the election results in court, citing what it described as widespread electoral violations.

Under Armenia’s Electoral Code, requests for recounts can be submitted to territorial election commissions on the day after voting between noon and 6 p.m., or on the second day following the election between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.

The Strong Armenia Alliance issued a separate statement alleging that the campaign had been conducted under “unprecedented pressure and persecution” and argued that the results published by the CEC could not accurately reflect the will of voters.

The alliance also criticized Pashinyan for declaring victory before the commission had completed processing all polling station results, claiming the announcement exerted political pressure on election officials.

The election commission has not publicly responded to the opposition’s allegations.

Besides the four leading forces, 14 other parties and alliances failed to secure sufficient support to enter parliament.

The final composition of Armenia’s next legislature may still depend on recount requests and potential legal challenges expected in the coming days.

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