Election irregularities in Armenia raise questions over parliament legitimacy — analyst

MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/. Election irregularities and fraud in Armenia’s parliamentary vote have undermined the country’s electoral system and raised questions over the legitimacy of parliament, said Pavel Danilin, director of the Center for Political Analysis.

The parliamentary elections in Armenia were held on June 7. Civil Contract led by Nikol Pashinyan won 50.04% (64 seats), the Strong Armenia alliance received 23.33% (29 seats), and the Armenia Alliance gained 9.85% (12 seats).

"Pashinyan failed to create a controlled parliament. <...> He has been trying, in every possible way, including manipulations, to secure additional votes for his party and push the Prosperous Armenia party out of parliament. These efforts have instead led to the discrediting of Armenia’s electoral system and raised questions over the legitimacy of the current parliament," Danilin said at a roundtable held by the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies (EISI) at TASS.

He called the scale of violations ahead of the elections "unprecedented," adding that although ODIHR/OSCE noted them, Western countries "deliberately turned a blind eye" to repression and irregularities.

Danilin explained that the signing of a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan is only possible after constitutional changes in Armenia, including the removal of Nagorno-Karabakh from the country’s territorial references. He said this requires a parliamentary majority, which Pashinyan currently lacks. "It is also unclear how he intends to implement constitutional amendments related to a referendum," Danilin added.

He also suggested that Armenia’s economic difficulties could lead Pashinyan to seek financial assistance from Russia.