Armenia's Pashinyan claims victory in parliamentary elections

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has claimed victory in the country's parliamentary elections, with his Civil Contract party securing a commanding lead in early vote counts. Speaking to reporters, Pashinyan expressed gratitude to his party colleagues, stating, "We worked day and night, and this is a victory of history. This victory belongs to the Armenian people." According to the state news agency Armenpress, citing the Central Election Commission (CEC), with ballots counted from 110 of the country's 2,005 polling stations, Civil Contract had obtained 57.14% of the vote. The Strong Armenia bloc, led by billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, was in second place with 21.4%, followed by former President Robert Kocharyan's Armenia Alliance with 8.2%. Pashinyan outlined his government's future policy direction, emphasizing a continued rapprochement with Europe while maintaining ties with Russia. "We will also continue our membership in the Eurasian Economic Union. We will continue to develop our relations with Russia," he added. The CEC reported that the country has 2,485,232 registered voters, and 18 candidate lists competed for seats in the at-least-101-seat parliament. Voting has concluded, and ballot counting is underway. Pre-election polls had projected Civil Contract to finish ahead of its rivals, though questions remain over whether Pashinyan will secure a parliamentary majority large enough to govern alone and push through possible constitutional amendments needed to finalize a peace agreement with Azerbaijan. According to Mehr News, the election results are still being tallied, and final outcomes are awaited.