commonspace.eu's political editor has said in a comment that an election with a result that gives one party a clear mandate to govern, is something which at times in the past few weeks appeared to be impossible given the difficult and polarised political situation that emerged in Armenia following the Autumn war:

"Nikol Pashinyan has once more outsmarted his many opponents, and managed to keep the loyalty and support of the people of Armenia. His party will have a constitutional majority, and that gives him a lot of opportunities to push forward his reform agenda, but obviously also has risks.

"The election has also been positively assessed by international observers, and any claims to delegitimise them are unlikely to have much resonance.

"The tasks ahead for the next Armenian government are enormous, but now the Armenian people have spoken, and their views need to be taken into account. This notwithstanding, Pashinyan would do well to approach his new term in government with a sense of modesty, taking into account that he needs to be the leader of all Armenians. Armenia needs to enter a period of political healing, and efforts need to be put into building a better future."

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With this, we end our live reporting.
 

Thank you to our contributors in Baku, Brussels, The Hague, Tbilisi and Yerevan for their insights and contributions, and to all those that joined us for the 20 June 2021 Armenian parliamentary elections.

The major international observers of the Armenian parliamentary elections have given positive reports on the conduct of the democratic process.

In a joint press conference this afternoon, Kari Henriksen, Head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (PA) delegation, said that despite the pandemic, the 20 June 2021 elections “were competitive and generally well managed with a short time frame”. That said, she noted that the elections were “characterised by intense polarisation and marred by increasingly inflammatory rhetoric among key contestants.” She noted that the legal framework was generally comprehensive, but said that the fact amendments were adopted close to election made some things less clear.

She criticised the sidelining of women in the process and the lack of accessibility at polling stations for those with disabilities. 

Georgios Katrougalos, Head of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) delegation, said that there was a respect of democratic and constitutional order in a polarised political climate. He added that the elections should considered as “given” and that “whoever does not win at this election has a chance at the next elections.”

Eoghan Murphy, Head of the ODIHR election observation mission stated that “at no time were [they] obstructed from doing [their] observation work by any of the state or local authorities”. Giving ODIHR’s assessment, he said they had observed that “candidates could campaign freely throughout the election process, fundamental rights and freedoms were generally respected and voters were provided with a broad range of options leading to a competitive election”. Like Henriksen, he expressed some concern that the late adoption of amnendments to legal code did create some legal uncertainty as well as expressing concern for the sidelining of women. 

In response to questions from journalists on electoral violations, the mission official said that they first need to see the substance of these complaints and correspond with the relevant state authorities, who have the right to take action based on these violations. With regards to breaches of secrecy of the ballots, the panel said they observed it in one instance, but did not intervene. In general, they said that the overall electoral institutions have worked.

The final report on the elections by the joint OSCE-ODIHR, OSCE PA and PACE will be ready in a few months’ time. 

An immediate Statement of preliminary findings and conclusions is available here. 

Following the results of the Armenian elections, we have been monitoring the statements of all the involved political parties and their representatives. While most of the unsuccessful parties are yet to make official statements, a few individuals have used their social media platforms to thank their followers for casting their votes for them.

Arman Babajanyan, leader of the Shirinyan-Babajanyan Alliance of Democrats, in a personal message on facebook, said: “For me personally, yesterday's election of the National Assembly is not the end, but the beginning.” He asserted that the elections were held democratically, and freedom of voting was ensured, following with, “Therefore, any attempt to revise the result with post-election developments will be an encroachment on Armenia's stability, the imperative of state recovery, public solidarity, in other words, it will be an internal attack on Armenia.”

In a statement, the Republic Party expressed its deep gratitude to those who trusted them and gave them their vote: “We value your trust and feel committed to you […] The Republic congratulates the winning team and wishes them success in these crucial difficult times for the Republic of Armenia.”

Norayr Norikyan, leader of Fair Armenia, also posted on his facebook account, expressing his gratitude to all people who voted for Fair Armenia and wishing the best to the Armenian people in the future. He noted that an official statement of the party will be published later this evening.

Some were less positive about the results and what they will bring for the future of the country.

In a facebook post, European Party of Armenia (EPA) stated, "[EPA expresses its] satisfaction in regard to the elections as a part of the ongoing democratic process in Armenia. On the other hand, EPA claims the elections to be not free and not fair, considering unequal conditions of participation, the limitation of free speech due to the monopolistic and biased position of the state media, and oligarchic information resources. Besides, the administrative and financial pressure and bribery were common and obvious before and during the election process. As a result, the leaders of all "old" authorities are presented in a "new" Armenian parliament to find immunity from their crimes and political mistakes." The statement excluded co-operation with "past and present marionette political figures", and said that "the EU and NATO membership remains the single guarantee for the peaceful, democratic, safe and sovereign development of our state."

Ara Zohrabyan, leader of the Awakening National Christian Party, expressed doubt on the result, stating that it is unclear how the Civil Contract could gain 680,000 votes. He stated that the people have chosen “aggression, hostility and defeat”, and claimed that the 2018 elections brought the 2020 Karabakh war, and the 2021 choice will bring “humiliation and losses”.

In an unofficial statement, MP in the last National Assembly for Bright Armenia, Srbuhi Grigoryan told News.am that her party “will take a break, to understand what will happen”. Bright Armenia pushed for solidarity in this election, but the party had a low outcome, gaining only 1.22% of votes. Bright Armenia will release an official statement in the evening.

International election observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Yerevan hold a press conference to present their findings following the 20 June early parliamentary elections in Armenia.

View here.