YEREVAN (RFE/RL) Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party recently won mayoral elections in at least two major Armenian towns but was defeated in another.
Voters in nearly 50 communities across Armenia went to the polls to elect their chief executives or local councils. As was the case in the September 23 municipal elections in Yerevan, the polls were marked by a lack of serious fraud reported by election candidates, observers and media.
In the largest of those communities—the towns of Armavir, Echmiadzin, Hrazdan and Kapan—the elections were held because their former mayors resigned shortly after Pashinyan swept to power in May in what is known as a democratic “velvet revolution.” They were affiliated or linked with former President Serge Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK).
In Echmiadzin, official vote results gave victory to Civil Contract’s Diana Gasparyan, the acting mayor appointed by Pashinyan’s government in June. Gasparyan, 30, was challenged by 11 other contenders. She is the first female head of an Armenian urban community elected since the early 1990s.
Another Civil Contract candidate, Davit Khudatian, prevailed in the mayoral race in Armavir. The town located about 50 kilometers west of Yerevan is the administrative center of the Armavir province encompassing Echmiadzin.
The snap election in another provincial capital, Hrazdan, was won by a 25-year-old son of Sasun Mikaelian, a prominent Hrazdan-based politician and a leading member of Civil Contract. The party leadership pointedly declined to back Sevak Mikaelian for still unclear reasons, however.
In Kapan, Pashinyan’s party suffered a setback. Kapan is the capital of the southeastern Syunik province bordering Iran. Its candidate, Narek Babayan, was defeated by a non-partisan challenger.
Pashinyan personally campaigned for Babayan, holding a rally in Kapan ahead of election day.
The Armenian prime minister put a brave face on the setback. While saying that he is “very sorry” for Babayan’s defeat, he portrayed the election outcome as a triumph of democracy.
“It’s an unprecedented phenomenon [for Armenia] when the country’s prime minister backs a candidate and that candidate doesn’t win an election. This is the greatest victory for democracy in the history of the Third [Armenian] Republic,” Pashinyan declared in a trademark video address to the nation on Facebook.
“Citizens made a decision and the government didn’t even attempt to place the citizens’ choice into the bounds of its wishes. Dear people, this is what we did the revolution for,” he said.
The former ruling HHK had for years swept most local elections in Armenia, heavily relying on its administrative and financial resources. Sarkisian’s party has essentially refrained from contesting such polls since losing power.
According to Pashinyan, Civil Contract nominated or endorsed candidates in 15 communities and only two of them lost.
I am flabbergasted, you mean, Nikol, did not reach out to his ‘Yerevan Peacenik Mob’to take it to the streets of Kapan and demand recount? He’s slacking off.
When was the last time you reported that the head of an Armenian government or Armenian political party made the comments that the Mr. Pashinyan just made about the “Win for Democracy” despite the fact that the candidate from his party lost the election. Maybe we should start focusing on the idea that the time has arrived in Armenia that people can see that their vote for their candidate is fairly counted and accepted by all candidates and political parties in the election.
Really. Is sarcasm the answer?
Mr Pashinyan acted like a true leader and needs to be commended.
What a prime minister and what an answer.
Bravo. One more reason to express my admiration to dear Mr. Pashinyan.
Keep up the good job and we keep on praying for you and your family.
Hale to Mr. Pashinyan. He is correct in saying DEMOCRACY won. Fair election & people’s choice. What else you want? Another revolution. Enough is enough.
True leader my foot. Back in April, the Armenian ‘Ghandi declared in front of the National Assembly,” Either I am elected the PM of Armenia, or no one else will”. This sounds more like a power grab and NOT democracy.
Yep Power grabbed by the people …I hear the LSD is really good in your part of the world and you are proving it.
Mob uprising should be challenged with democratic uprising. We have seen both happening at different times under different circumstances. Try to differentiate between ‘black democracy’ (mob uprising) and white democratic uprising. The white does not necessarily cover always the black one.