As of Monday, 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 70.44%.

The Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), whose chairman 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%. 

The voter turnout on election day was 48.67%.

The Republican Party of Armenia and ARF Dashnaktsutyun failed to overcome the threshold of 5 percent.

According to preliminary results, the new parliament will have 132 MPs, whereas there are 105 lawmakers in the current legislature.

The seat distribution in the new parliament will be as follows:  My Step Alliance: 88 seats, Prosperous Armenia: 26 seats, and Bright Armenia: 18 seats.

“Powerful, powerful, powerful people!” acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wrote on Facebook after the Central Electoral Commission counted all ballots.  “I love you all, I’m proud of you all, I bow down before you all. With courage!” he said.

In a statement issued later in the day leader of Prosperous Armenia party Gagik Tsrukyan said “each and every one of your votes is a greatest accountability for me and my team, and we will unconditionally fulfill this accountability.”

Bright Armenia Party issued a statement saying they it will be the only opposition party in the new Armenian parliament. “Armenia is entering a stage of systemic and institutional reforms,” the party said in a statement, adding that they are open to cooperation with all non-parliamentary political forces and individuals.

Early parliamentary elections in Armenia were held with respect to fundamental freedoms and enjoyed broad public trust that needs to be preserved through further political reforms, international observers said in a statement on Monday.

Now that voters have delivered their message, it is up to the political leadership of Armenia to ensure that this momentum is maintained, and that further reforms are implemented to fully consolidate the positive assessment we are making today, they said.

The CIS observation mission also called the election “transparent and open”. The observers reported about certain irregularities, which, however, could not affect the voting results.