Former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK) and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) essentially accepted on Monday official election results showing that they will no longer have seats in the country’s parliament.
According to the preliminary results released by the Central Election Commission (CEC), the HHK won 4.7 percent of the vote in Sunday’s general elections, falling short of the 5 percent threshold to enter the National Assembly. Dashnaktsutyun got 3.9 percent and will also not be represented in the parliament.
The setback is particularly severe for the HHK which won the previous parliamentary elections held as recently as in April 2017.
“These elections were democratic in form but not in substance,” the HHK said in a statement.
The statement accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, whose My Step alliance polled over 70 percent, of abusing his administrative resources and whipping up “intolerance towards dissent” during the election campaign. It also alleged government harassment of Republican local government officials and other party activists.
Still, the former ruling party indicated that it will not challenge the official vote results in court or otherwise. “We wish the forces elected to the parliament and the government to be formed by them success because the security and development prospects of our country depend on that,” it said.
The statement also said that the HHK will continue to challenge Pashinian’s government as an “extraparliamentary force.” Appealing to party supporters, it added: “Rest assured that we will do everything in our power to ensure that the noise of populism does not suppress your voice.”
Dashnaktsutyun, which has been represented in the parliament since 1999, also tried to put a brave face on its electoral performance. “This is a defeat but not of our voters,” it said, describing the latter as principled individuals who voted for a party program, rather than a popular individual.
A much larger number of other voters, a Dashnaktsutyun statement complained, looked for an “internal enemy” and “shockingly” ignored grave challenges facing their country.
Dashnaktsutyun, which has influential branches in Armenian communities around the world, had up to three ministerial posts in Sarkisian’s government from 2008-2009 and 2016-2018. It reached a similar power-sharing deal with Pashinian after he swept to power in May this year. Pashinian fired the Dashnaktsutyun-affiliated ministers in October, accusing their left-wing nationalist party of collaborating with the HHK.
Pashinian’s bloc will have a two-thirds majority in the new parliament, putting it in a position to not only push through government bills but also amend some articles of the Armenian constitution.
The remaining parliament seats will be divided between the Prosperous Armenia (BHK) and Bright Armenia parties which garnered 8.3 percent and 6.4 percent of the vote respectively. Unlike the HHK and Dashnaktsutyun, both parties refrained from openly criticizing Pashinian during the parliamentary race.
Facebook Forum