2017 Armenian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 2 April 2017. They were the first elections after a constitutional referendum in 2015 that approved reforms for the country to become a parliamentary republic. The result was a victory for the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, which won 58 of the 105 seats in the National Assembly.[1]

2017 Armenian parliamentary election
Armenia
2 April 2017

All 105 seats in the National Assembly
53 seats needed for a majority
Turnout60.86%
PartyLeader % Seats +/–
Republican Vigen Sargsyan 49.17 58 -11
Tsarukyan Alliance Gagik Tsarukyan 27.35 31 -2
Way Out Alliance Edmon Marukyan 7.78 9 New
ARF Armen Rustamyan 6.58 7 +2
Prime Minister before Prime Minister after
Karen Karapetyan
Republican
Karen Karapetyan
Republican

Electoral system

At the time of the previous elections in 2012, the National Assembly had 131 seats, of which 41 were elected in single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting and 90 by proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency with an electoral threshold of 5%.[2]

However, a referendum in December 2015 approved constitutional amendments reducing the minimum number of seats in the National Assembly to 101, all of which will be elected by party-list proportional representation, with seats allocated using the d'Hondt method and an election threshold of 5% for parties and 7% for multi-party alliances.[3][4]

The ballot paper has two sections; one of which is a closed list of candidates for the party at the national level and the other an open list of candidates for the constituency (of which there are 13) that the voter is voting in. Voters vote for a party at the national level and can also give a preference vote to any of candidates of the same party in a district list.[4] Seats are allocated to parties using the share of the vote at the national level, with half awarded to those in the national list and half to those who receive the most preference votes in the district lists.[4] Four seats are reserved for national minorities (Assyrians, Kurds, Russians and Yazidis), with parties having separate lists for the four groups.[4] A party list can not include over 70% of representatives of the same sex, and any there cannot be four consecutive members of one sex on a nationwide party list.

If a party receives a majority of the vote but gets less than 54% of the seats, they will be awarded additional seats to give them 54% of the total. If a party wins over two-thirds of seats, the losing parties will be given extra seats reducing the share of seats of winning party to two-thirds. If a government is not formed within six days of the preliminary results being released, a run-off round of voting between the top two parties must be held within 28 days. A party winning the run-off will be given the seats required for a 54% majority, with all seats allocated in the first round are preserved.[4]

List of participating parties and alliances

The following parties and electoral alliances participated in the election:[5]

# Party or alliance Composition Head of electoral list Seats held European affiliation Slogan
1 Way Out Alliance Bright Armenia,
Hanrapetutyun Party,
Civil Contract
Edmon Marukyan
2 / 131
Election, change, victory (Armenian: Ընտրություն, փոփոխություն, հաղթանակ)[6]
2 Free Democrats Free Democrats,
Freedom Party
Khachatur Kokobelyan
3 / 131
We can (Armenian: Մենք կարող ենք)[7]
3 Armenian Renaissance Orinats Yerkir,
Unified Armenians Party
Artur Baghdasaryan
5 / 131
EPP (observer) Vote for change, vote for renaissance (Armenian: Քվեարկիր հանուն փոփոխության, քվեարկիր հանուն վերածննդի)[8]
4 Tsarukyan Alliance Prosperous Armenia,
Alliance Party,
Mission Party
Gagik Tsarukyan
33 / 131
ACRE Time to change and build (Armenian: Փոփոխությունների և կառուցելու ժամանակն է)[9]
5 ANC-PPA alliance Armenian National Congress,
People's Party of Armenia
Levon Ter-Petrosyan
7 / 131
ALDE Peace, reconciliation, neighborliness (Armenian: Խաղաղություն, հաշտություն, բարիդրացիություն)[10]
6 Republican Party of Armenia Vigen Sargsyan
69 / 131
EPP (observer) Security and progress (Armenian: Անվտանգություն եւ առաջընթաց)[11]
7 Armenian Communist Party Tachat Sargsyan
0 / 131
Motherland, socialism, labour (Armenian: Հայրենիք, սոցիալիզմ, աշխատանք)[12]
8 ORO Alliance
(Ohanyan-Raffi-Oskanian)
Seyran Ohanyan,
Heritage party (Raffi Hovannisian),
Unity party
(Vartan Oskanian)
Seyran Ohanyan
4 / 131
EPP (observer) Heritage, unity, victory (Armenian: Ժառանգություն, համխմբում, հաղթանակ)[13]
9 Armenian Revolutionary Federation Armen Rustamyan
5 / 131
PES (observer) A new beginning, a just Armenia (Armenian: Նոր սկիզբ, արդար Հայաստան)[14]

Opinion polls

Date Pollster RPA TA (PAP) YELQ ARF FD OEK-UAP ANC-PPA ORO HKK
18–27 March 2017ASA & BS/Gallup30299735443
12–19 March 2017Gallup29.428.26.14.84.43.42.92.51.2
23 February–2 March 2017Gallup22.826.44.33.93.42.72.61.81.0

Conduct

The OSCE criticised the election by saying it had been tainted by vote-buying, and pressure on civil servants and employees of private companies.[15] Transparency International, along with various other organizations, confirmed cases of bribe distribution.[16]

For the first time in Armenian elections, a voter authentication system was used. On election day, all voters were identified through the use of Voter Authentication Devices (VADs), which contained an electronic copy of the voter lists. Voters' fingerprints were also scanned and the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) stated that it would conduct cross-checks to identify potential cases of multiple voting if any complaints were raised.[17] The introduction of the technology was supported by the opposition and civil society groups.[18]

In February 2017 the CEC tested the new devices,[19] which were provided by the UNDP electoral assistance project, funded by the European Union, United States, Germany, United Kingdom and the Armenian government.[20]

According to final reports from the International Elections Observation Missions (IEOM), "the VADs functioned effectively and without significant issues."[17] Observers reported the introduction of the VADs was welcomed by most IEOM interlocutors as a useful tool for building confidence in the integrity of election day proceedings.[18] However, they mentioned in the final report that the late introduction of the VADs could have led to a limited time for testing of equipment and training of operators, stating "Observers noted some problems with scanning of ID documents and fingerprints; however, this did not lead to significant disruptions of voting. IEOM observers noted 9 cases of voters attempting multiple voting that were captured by the VADs. The VADs provided the possibility for voters to be redirected, in case they were registered in another polling station in the same TEC, and this was observed in 55 polling stations."[21]

Results

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Republican Party771,24749.1758–11
Tsarukyan Alliance428,96527.3531–2
Way Out Alliance122,0497.789New
Armenian Revolutionary Federation103,1736.587+2
Armenian Renaissance58,2773.720–6
ORO Alliance (Ohanyan-Raffi-Oskanian)32,5042.070–5
ANCPPA Alliance25,9751.660–7
Free Democrats14,7460.940New
Armenian Communist Party11,7450.7500
Total1,568,681100.00105–26
Valid votes1,568,68199.57
Invalid/blank votes6,7010.43
Total votes1,575,382100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,588,59060.86
Source: CEC Panorama

By electoral district

Electoral district Way Out Free Dem. Arm. Ren. PAP ANC RPA Comm. ORO ARF Total votes cast Registered voters Turnout
1 - Yerevan Districts Avan, Nor Nork & Kanaker-Zeytun13.3%1.3%4.8%18.8%1.7%50.7%1.1%2.3%6.0%120,409200,21960.1%
2 - Yerevan Districts Ajapnyak, Arabkir & Davtashen15.5%1.5%2.3%23.1%3.8%45.8%1.1%2.0%5.0%125,885212,52359.2%
3 - Yerevan Districts Malatia-Sebastia & Shengavit13.0%1.7%3.4%19.3%2.3%53.1%1.3%1.7%4.2%130,249224,32258.1%
4 - Yerevan Districts Erebuni, Kentron, Nork-Marash & Nubarashen14.8%1.9%2.4%23.7%2.5%46.2%1.3%2.3%4.9%115,206208,74655.2%
5 - Ararat4.4%0.4%1.6%35.4%0.7%51.8%0.3%0.5%4.9%151,297221,50768.3%
6 - Armavir4.8%0.7%3.7%24.3%1.1%53.1%0.8%2.4%9.0%128,339232,01055.3%
7 - Aragatsotn2.3%0.3%5.0%30.3%2.2%44.5%0.6%3.6%11.2%76,397116,81665.4%
8 - Gegharkunik2.6%0.4%3.9%30.3%0.9%52.6%0.4%1.9%7.1%127,915191,67266.7%
9 - Lori8.6%0.5%2.6%18.5%1.7%62.2%0.5%1.4%4.0%137,758238,29157.8%
10 - Kotayk8.7%0.6%2.3%43.9%1.4%34.6%0.8%2.9%4.7%139,666238,42158.6%
11 - Shirak3.2%0.6%10.4%32.2%1.1%40.6%0.5%2.1%9.3%132,709230,70157.5%
12 - Vayots Dzor and Syunik3.2%0.7%2.8%29.0%1.1%53.7%0.5%1.9%7.3%108,338162,45666.7%
13 - Tavush4.1%2.1%3.9%23.3%1.5%48.1%0.5%3.5%13.1%72,715110,03766.1%
Source: CEC Archived 2017-05-22 at the Wayback Machine

See also

References

  1. RPA to be represented by 58 lawmakers in Armenia’s 105-seat Parliament Panorama, 4 April 2017
  2. "ARMENIA Azgayin Zhoghov (National Assembly)". ipu.org. Inter-Parliamentary Union.
  3. All Change in Armenia Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 8 December 2015
  4. Parliamentary elections 2 April 2017: OSCE/ODIHR needs assessment mission report OSCE
  5. "Հայաստանի Հանրապետության կենտրոնական ընտրական հանձնաժողով". Archived from the original on 2017-05-22. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  6. 2017 թ. խորհրդարանական ընտրություններին «ԵԼՔ» դաշինքը հանդես կգա «Ընտրություն, Փոփոխություն, Հաղթանակ» կարգախոսով և հետևյալ տարբերանշանով
  7. "Մեր ծրագրում ներառված են բոլոր ոլորտները, ինչպես պահանջում է Սահմանադրությունը. Հ. Բագրատյան". Archived from the original on 2017-04-02. Retrieved 2017-04-01.
  8. "ՀՎԿ-ը հրապարակեց իր ցուցակը. այն կգլխավորի Արթուր Բաղդասարյանը (Տեսանյութ)".
  9. Design, Sargssyan Studio - Web & Graphic. "Փոփոխությունների և կառուցելու ժամանակն է. "Ծառուկյան" դաշինքի նախընտրական տեսահոլովակը".
  10. "Մեկնարկում է "ՀԱԿ-ՀԺԿ" դաշինքի նախընտրական քարոզարշավը (տեսանյութ)".
  11. "ՀՀԿ-ն ընտրություններին կմասնակցի "Անվտանգություն եւ առաջընթաց" կարգախոսով (տեսանյութ)".
  12. "Կոմկուսը ընտրություններին կմասնակցի "Հայրենիք, սոցիալիզմ, աշխատանք" կարգախոսով".
  13. Intell-Sol.com. ""Օհանյան-Րաֆֆի-Օսկանյան" դաշինքի 12 առաջարկները".
  14. "Elections in Armenia: 8 Reasons to Vote for the ARF-D on April 2". 29 March 2017.
  15. "Armenia elections tainted by vote-buying: OSCE monitors". Al Jazeera. 3 April 2017.
  16. "Transparency International: 45 cases of Armenia election bribe distribution, promise were recorded in 10 days". News.am. 29 March 2017.
  17. Hairenik (2017-04-03). "OSCE Releases Statement on Armenian Parliamentary Elections Monitoring Mission". The Armenian Weekly. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
  18. "Republic of Armenia Parliamentary Elections, 2 April 2017 - OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission Final Report". Osce.org.
  19. "Press release on elections in Armenia - EEAS - European External Action Service - European Commission". EEAS - European External Action Service. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
  20. "New Voter Authentication Devices (VADs) tested in Armenia | EC-UNDP Joint Task Force". www.ec-undp-electoralassistance.org. Archived from the original on 2017-07-29. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
  21. "Doc. No 14325". assembly.coe.int. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
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