There is much discussion now about why the ruling Civil Contract (CC) Party won and the opposition lost in the Vagharshapat elections. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said this during a Facebook live stream—and referring to the results of Sunday’s local elections in Vagharshapat—also known as Etchmiadzin—city.

“There is one global reason: The opposition was speaking about apocalypse, while the CC—about life. People simply chose life, people were simply choosing life. And in my humble opinion, this is how it will be in the 2026 parliamentary elections, because having gone through harsh trials together, we have ultimately left the apocalypse in the past, and today only life lies ahead,” the Armenian PM added.

Eight political forces ran in the council elections held in the Vagharshapat enlarged community, and three of which, according to the Central Electoral Commission’s preliminary data, have passed the minimum threshold: the Civil Contract Party, the ‘Victory’ bloc, and the Mother Armenia Party.

Accordingly, the 33 seats of the Vagharshapat council will be distributed as follows:

Civil Contract Party – 19 seats

“Victory” bloc – 12 seats

Mother Armenia Party – 2 seats

This means that the ruling Civil Contract Party can independently appoint the new mayor of Vagharshapat without the need to form a coalition with any other political force.