Photo: EPA
Voting has begun in Armenia’s parliamentary elections. More than two thousand polling stations across the country opened at 8:00 (7:00 Moscow time) and will remain open until 20:00 (19:00 Moscow time). Voting is organized only within Armenia, with no polling stations abroad. Nearly 2.5 million citizens are included on the voter lists.
A total of 18 political forces are taking part in the election. The threshold for parties is set at 4%. For blocs that include up to three parties, it is 8%, while for alliances of four or more parties it is 10%. No minimum turnout threshold has been set.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has already cast his vote.
Balance of forces. The main rivals in the parliamentary elections are Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party, which 32.4% of voters plan to support, Strong Armenia of Russian-Armenian oligarch Samvel Karapetyan with backing from 16.4% of citizens, and the Armenia bloc of former president Robert Kocharyan, which stands at 15.2%.
Recently, Pashinyan has been actively speaking in favor of closer ties with the European Union. In addition, he is supported in this election by U.S. President Donald Trump. At the same time, the Kremlin is betting on businessman Karapetyan, who is under investigation in Armenia in a case over calls to overthrow the government.
🔵 Armenia-Russia relations. Ahead of the parliamentary elections, relations between Moscow and Yerevan began to deteriorate. Russia has criticized Pashinyan for his course toward closer relations with the European Union. The Armenian prime minister, in turn, says the country is ready to leave the CSTO "if necessary."
In addition, over the past few weeks the Kremlin has banned imports of dozens of categories of goods from Armenia. These include fruit, vegetables, strawberries, flowers, and brandy. Russia had remained one of the main buyers of Armenian products.
As Reuters reported, Russia intends to send about 100 thousand Armenians to Armenia so they can vote against Pashinyan’s party.