Armenian prime minister’s bloc wins parliamentary majority
YEREVAN, Armenia — A bloc led by Armenia’s relatively new prime minister trounced its political foes and won an overwhelming parliamentary majority in an early election, according to results released Monday.
Nikol Pashinian came to power in May after spearheading massive protests that forced his predecessor to step down. The 43-year-old former journalist pushed for the early vote held Sunday to win control of parliament, which was dominated by the rival Republican Party.
Pashinian’s My Step bloc won more than 70 per cent of the vote in Sunday’s balloting. The Republican Party of former prime minister and president Serzh Sargsyan received about 4.7 per cent of the vote, failing to reach the 5 per cent threshold needed to be in parliament at all.
The pro-business Prosperous Armenia party placed second with about 8 per cent, and Bright Armenia won just over 6 per cent.