YEREVAN. – As of Monday, 7:30am, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) has counted all the ballots that were cast in Sunday’s snap National Assembly (NA) election in Armenia.

Accordingly, the My Step Alliance, led by Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, has won the election, with 70.43% (884,456 votes).

The Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), whose chairman—and tycoon—Gagik Tsarukyan has repeatedly expressed his support to Pashinyan and his “velvet revolution,” has come second, with 8.27 percent (103,824).

And another Pashinyan supporter, Bright Armenia Party (BAP), led by Chairman Edmon Marukyan, has placed third, with 6.37% (80,024).

The other political forces running for parliament, however, have not passed the minimum thresholds—5% for parties, and 7% for alliances—to win seats in the new NA, which is elected for five years.  

But considering that the Constitution guarantees one-third of parliamentary seats to the opposition, it should be expected that both the PAP and the BAP shall announce themselves as a constructive opposition.

Furthermore, since My Step Alliance will get more than two-thirds of the parliamentary seats, the provision adopted in 2015 will apply for the first time in Armenia, and according to which, the number of MPs in parliament will increase proportionately so that both the PAP and the BAP shall together have one-third of the NA seats.

The former ruling Republican Party of Armenia was close to passing the minimum threshold to enter parliament, but it came in fourth, with 4.7% (59,059 votes).

The votes which the remaining political forces garnered are as follows:

Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Dashnaktsutyun Party: 3.89% (48,811), “We” (Menk) Alliance: 2% (25,174), Sasna Tsrer Pan-Armenian Party: 1.82% (22,862), Orinats Yerkir (Rule of Law) Party: 0.99% (12,389), “Citizen’s Decision” Social Democratic Party: 0.68% (8,530), Christian-Democratic Rebirth Party: 0.51% (6,456), and National Progress Party: 0.33% (4,122).