Tag: elections

As the geopolitical landscape in the South Caucasus remains precarious, potential changes in EU and U.S. leadership can pose additional challenges for Armenia. Amid these uncertainties, Armenia's diplomatic efforts become increasingly important and serve as a test of its resilience.

Normally, the municipal election to elect a new city council for the city of Vedi would not have attracted much attention. However, it highlighted a number of trends taking root in Armenia’s post-war political environment.

After a bitter election campaign, three political forces are poised to enter parliament. What they do and how they behave will determine the future of the country.

A new poll casts the electorate as largely pessimistic about the candidates and largely undecided. The findings demonstrate that acting PM Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract would win the plurality of the votes but fall short of securing a single-party majority government.

After the shocking defeat in the war, the use of the notion of “remedial secession” has not been consistent, neither by the authorities nor by other political forces in Armenia. Sossi Tatikian explains.

Twenty-six political parties and alliances of parties have registered with the Central Electoral Commission to take part in the upcoming snap parliamentary election in Armenia. Everything you need to know about them is in this essential primer.

Armenians may be wary of going to the polls in the upcoming snap parliamentary elections, but democracy remains the only option on the ballot.

The early parliamentary election was officially triggered on May 10, 2021. Harout Manougian looks at the main possible scenarios for the outcome of the election, based on party rankings from recent poll results.

Yerevan City elections will be held on May 14, 2017. Approximately 35 percent of the country's electorate resides in the capital city. EVN Report presents an overview of the three political forces taking part in this election.

Following months of protests, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced his formal resignation, triggering the process that is expected to lead to an early parliamentary election in June 2021. He will remain acting PM until then.

Armenia has about 15,000 active COVID-19 cases. Even if that number decreases by June 20, there will most likely be thousands of eligible voters who are positive. With no mail-in voting and no opportunity to vote in advance, election administrators face a constitutional conundrum.

Political efficacy has been replaced with a wave of voter alienation among a large percentage of Armenia’s electorate. With snap parliamentary elections set for June 20, these issues will be front and center.

Proposed changes to Armenia’s Electoral Code began in the summer of 2018. Almost three years later, the electoral reform bill has been sent to the Venice Commission for an expert opinion. Will the bill make its way into law before potential early elections, if at all?

Instead of playing semantics, PM Nikol Pashinyan should have taken responsibility for the war's disastrous outcome and resigned. A golden opportunity to push the democratic movement forward was squandered.

Armenia’s President expressed his desire to re-introduce direct presidential elections to Armenia. Doing so could place a stumbling block in the way of Armenia’s democratic consolidation.

Following Armenia’s major military defeat in Artsakh, many people in the country, including a number of political forces, are calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Such a move could trigger a number of different scenarios.

This time, the EU's assessment of the presidential election in Belarus is critically different from that of the 2015 presidential election, when Lukashenka was awarded 84% of the vote. Anna Barseghyan takes a closer look at European reaction.

Dual citizens cannot run in Armenian parliamentary elections, but that hasn’t always been the case.

The main catchphrase this month in Belarus is “We don’t want a Ukraine scenario, we want an Armenia scenario,” writes Ales Plotka about the ongoing protests in Belarus following fraudulent presidential elections in August.

Though Armenia is not unique, its embrace of Facebook has been unconditional, which may carry national security implications.

Presidential and parliamentary elections were held in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) on March 31. While voter turnout was high (72.7%), no presidential candidate received the required majority of votes, necessitating a runoff election to take place in two weeks.

A summary of an analysis assessing the performance of Armenia’s current electoral system, focusing on regional representation and discussing the unsuccessful proposal to abandon district-based open lists in 2018 and introducing a new compromise.

This analysis by Harout Manougian assesses the performance of Armenia’s current electoral system in a number of areas, focusing on regional representation. It discusses the unsuccessful proposal to abandon district-based open lists in 2018 and introduces a new compromise between that proposal and the status quo.

Voters will be given masks, hand sanitizer and their own pen as the vote looks set to go ahead on March 31 as originally planned.

Artsakh voters will be heading to the polls on March 31. Incumbent President Bako Sahakyan is not seeking another term. Meet the political candidates vying for support and the political backdrop under which they are campaigning.

Armenia’s National Assembly voted to call a constitutional referendum yesterday, which, if passed, would dismiss seven of the nine judges currently sitting on the Constitutional Court.

Since Armenia’s independence, every head of government has shaped the country’s Constitution; Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has made it clear that he will not be an exception.

EVN Report takes a comprehensive look back on the events that shaped 2019, from high profile criminal cases to foreign relations.

Armenia’s first post-Velvet Revolution parliament will hold its maiden session on January 14. Who are the men and women who will be serving the Armenian people as parliamentarians? EVN Report presents some interesting facts.

Armenia’s first post-Velvet Revolution parliament will hold its maiden session on January 14. Who are the men and women who will be serving the Armenian people as parliamentarians? EVN Report presents some interesting facts.

The divisive “black or white” tone of the political campaign is not lending itself to the very ideals that the Velvet Revolution promised - pluralism, choices, diversity and freedom. On Election Day, people should vote according to their conscience and preferences, not out of pressure to be with the “right” crowd.

EVN Report presents the biographies of the top ten candidates of the 11 political parties and coalition of parties that are participating in the snap parliamentary elections to be held on December 9.

Dr. Nerses Kopalyan provides an in-depth analysis of the parties and coalition of parties that are running for the Dec. 9 snap parliamentary elections. Of the 11 political forces preparing for the campaign, Kopalyan writes, only six are competitive and have the capacity to influence and effect the policy discourse during the campaign.

With snap parliamentary elections just a month away, there is a historic opportunity to set the foundations for a democratic state. While fair and free elections are critically important, they are only a first step. Armenia’s democratization must include making human rights the cornerstone and main guiding framework for policy making.

With snap parliamentary elections around the corner and if all indicators hold true, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civic Contract party remains poised to sweep the vote. The question that the prime minister will have to consider is whether he wants to rule or govern.

The “My Step” Party Alliance, with 81.06 percent of the vote, secured a landslide victory in the Yerevan municipal elections on September 23, 2018. Find out more about the capital's new mayor, the three forces that will make up Yerevan's new Council of Elders, and the course of the elections in EVN Report's overview.

Following the resignation of Mayor Taron Margaryan, the city of Yerevan is now preparing for snap elections. EVN Report presents the parties and alliances that are running for City Council and more.

Vahram Ter-Matevosyan writes about the political crisis that has gripped Armenia for three weeks now. He looks back at the special session of parliament that took place yesterday, which failed to elect a prime minister and explains why the Republicans would have served Armenia better if they had treated the matter with velvet gloves instead of an iron fist.

The Yerevan City elections, held on Sunday, May 14, produced more questions than answers as the ruling Republican Party of Armenia claimed a decisive victory with over 70 percent of the vote. Political consultant Arin Keshishian writes about his observations of the municipal elections for EVN Report.

The Republican Party of Armenia’s victory following parliamentary elections has left a bad aftertaste for many in the country. How was it that the RPA, despite its perceived unpopularity was able to secure a majority in parliament? Sos Avetisyan tries to look beyond the surface of political realities and into the heart of state-citizen relations.

In the last couple of years, the Azerbaijani propaganda machine has made it its business to be actively involved in all Twitter discussions about Armenia and Karabakh and attempts to hijack hashtags.#Armvote17 was no different. Samuel Martirosyan explains.

Being an observer of elections is not an easy job. Being a young citizen observer during the parliamentary election in Armenia was an experience that Lusine Sargsyan won't soon forget.

Political pundits will analyze the April 2 Parliamentary Elections for weeks and months to come. The results, however, were not surprising. What are the programs and policies that need to be implemented to prepare the country for the next election cycle?

In this post-Election essay, Paul Chaderjian reflects on how a group of his peers, men and women from all walks of life, made a collective effort on April 2 to serve as citizen observers in the homeland.

How did political parties and blocs running for parliamentary elections utilize social media? Did they use targeted advertising or simply throw money away? Information security expert Samvel Martirosyan breaks it down and presents an interesting picture.

Political Scientist Yevgenya Paturyan considers the choices voters have ahead of the parliamentary elections, a mere three days away. She says that even though there may be a dearth of the perfect candidate, action is always better than inaction.

Yerevan municipal elections are scheduled for May 14. Approximately 35 percent of the country's electorate reside in the capital city, however, no one is talking about the importance and significance of these elections.

Following the parliamentary election on April 2, the Republic of Armenia is set to transition from a presidential to a parliamentary system of governance. There has been much public discourse about the differences and implications of each

With the stroke of a pen on one of nine ballots, Armenians will be heading to the polls to elect the party, or bloc of parties, that will govern the country for the next four years and, indirectly, also the person who will become president until 2025.

Since 2014, Armenia has confronted a number of crippling domestic and external challenges. The major cause for the present situation is the absence of free and fair elections, writes Armen Grigoryan.