Armenian Reformist Leader Wins by Landslide in Early Elections

From Voice Of America

Armenian reformist leader Nikol Pashinyan won by landslide the early parliamentary elections Sunday, Central Election Commission’s (CEC) results showed.

The bloc led by Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party had over 70 percent of the vote. In distant second place was the Prosperous Armenia party with less than nine percent.

Pashinyan, 43, became prime minister in May after weeks of anti-government protests that forced the sudden resignation of Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan, who was also a former president of Armenia.

Sargsyan’s Republican Party took 4.56 percent in Sunday’s elections, failing to clear the five-percent threshold to make it into parliament. However, under Armenia’s constitution, 30 percent of the seats in parliament are reserved for opposition parties, so the Republicans could still find a way in.

Pashinyan, a former newspaper editor who had been imprisoned for his activism, has promised to maintain close ties with Russia and fight corruption. He has also pledged to “step us cooperation with the United States and European Union.”