The much-anticipated parliamentary elections in Armenia were carried out on April 2 without significant deviations from the anticipated results. This was the first election since Armenia adopted of a new constitution propelling the country from a presidential to a parliamentary system. One other change resulting from this switch is that the size of the legislature has been cut down from 131 to 105 members.
The election results impacted the country on two main dimensions: domestic and regional/ geostrategic.
Armenia is located at the political nerve center of the Caucasus region. Many countries are interested in its policies, if not its wellbeing. That is why the election process was observed dutifully by the West and Russia, with both camps projecting their conflicting interests in the region.
While Armenia is being considered within the Russian orbit, Western observations of those elections would be a priori negative.
One of the Western news outlets characterized the election results as a victory for the pro-Russian president. That image was reinforced by the early congratulations from President Vladimir Putin, who stated in his message: “The election results confirm the highest level of confidence which you and your party enjoy among the citizens of Armenia.” That certainly did not reflect the general sentiment, necessarily.
A total of 1.58 million eligible voters cast their ballots, which amounts to 61 percent of the electorate.