Armenia votes West: Pashinyan's party leads over pro-Russian opposition

Armenia's ruling Civil Contract party appears to be leading in the country's parliamentary elections, according to preliminary results released Sunday evening. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's party, which has pursued closer ties with the West since coming to power in 2018, has garnered 57.14 percent of the votes counted so far.

The election results, based on data from approximately 5 percent of polling stations, show the pro-Russian opposition alliance "Strong Armenia" in second place with around 21 percent of the vote. The "Armenian Alliance," led by former President Robert Kocharyan, trails in third with approximately 8 percent. These figures are based on preliminary counts from 110 out of 2,005 polling stations.

These parliamentary elections are the first general elections in Armenia since its significant military defeat by Azerbaijan in 2023. They are widely viewed as a crucial test for Prime Minister Pashinyan's agenda of deepening ties with Western nations and his efforts to achieve a peace agreement with Azerbaijan following years of conflict and political instability.

Pre-election polls had indicated a lead for the Civil Contract party, with up to 32 percent support, while "Strong Armenia" was projected to receive up to 11 percent. Armenia, a South Caucasus republic with about 2.5 million eligible voters, has increasingly expanded its relations with the European Union in recent years, a move that has been met with considerable dissatisfaction in Moscow.