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All 65 seats to Yerevan City Council 33 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 43.66% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Yerevan City Council elections were held on 23 September 2018. [1] The snap election was triggered after the resignation of former mayor Taron Margaryan amid the aftermath of the 2018 Armenian Velvet Revolution. Well-known comedian and actor Hayk Marutyan, heading the electoral list of the My Step Alliance, was elected to the office of mayor of Yerevan.
979 candidates competed for 65 open seats in the Yerevan city council (also known as the "council of elders"). [2]
A total of 12 parties/alliances participated in the election (numbered below according to the electoral ballot listing):
A pre-election analysis of the top 10 lists from each party or alliance [11] revealed that:
According to official data there were 848,343 eligible voters. [12] [13]
Foreign citizens living in Yerevan could cast their ballots if they had at least a one-year registration before voting day. [14]
The electoral code defines one vote per voter and a threshold of 6 percent of cast ballots for parties (50,900 votes at 100% turnout) and 8 percent for alliances (67,867 at 100% turnout), surpassing which is required for consideration during mandate allocations. Only if less than 3 parties/alliances pass the threshold, would all three best performing parties/alliances be allocated mandates. [15] [16] A “bonus” to the political force that wins at least 40 percent of the council seats will allow it to occupy majority of the seats and appoint the new mayor of Yerevan. [17]
Mandates will be allocated according to proportional representation principle, while regarding Yerevan as one multi-mandate electoral district.
Only one international organization, the International Expert Center for Electoral Systems (ICES) was registered for monitoring the election. [13]
While 662 observers from 8 local organizations and 598 representatives of 49 media outlets participated. Ten of the representatives were from 5 foreign media outlets. [18]
Ahead of the September 23 election, in the second and final reading, the Armenian Parliament unanimously ratified a bill criminalizing electoral fraud. The amendments to Armenia’s Criminal Code make electoral fraud punishable by imprisonment whereas before, individuals charged with vote buying or selling were simply fined. [11]
Police established a telephone hot line which was used to report electoral fraud on election day. Anonymity of those who report corruption cases will be guaranteed. [19]
The campaign was marked by bitter accusations by leading candidates. [20] [21] Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, said the elections will be between "bright" and "dark" forces. [22]
After some candidates called for public debates and expressed their participation willingness, a debate was scheduled to be broadcast on public TV on the last campaign day, September 21 at 22:25 - just 95 minutes before "silence day" begins. The debate was recorded in advance, rather than broadcast live. For this reason, only one candidate, Naira Zohrabyan, representing Prosperous Armenia had declined participation and called for a live debate, [23] while ten candidates confirmed their participation. [23] If broadcast shall indeed end before midnight, assuming equal speaking time distribution to the candidates and taking into amount some time for moderation, it was expected that speaking time per candidate would amount to only about 7 (+-2) minutes.
On September 11, Gallup International published an opinion poll survey. [24] According to the poll: [25]
If these numbers held, only the top 3 parties/alliances (My Step, Prosperous Armenia, and Bright Alliance) would make it into city council, according to the rule of passing the electoral threshold and requiring a minimum of 3 parties/alliances to be represented in council.
The My Step Alliance won a landslide victory in the Yerevan City Council elections, according to preliminary data. [26]
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| My Step Alliance | 294,092 | 81.07 | 57 | |
| Prosperous Armenia | 25,218 | 6.95 | 5 | |
| Bright Alliance | 18,114 | 4.99 | 3 | |
| Armenian Revolutionary Federation | 5,882 | 1.62 | 0 | |
| Apricot Country Party | 5,059 | 1.39 | 0 | |
| Orinats Yerkir | 3,947 | 1.09 | 0 | |
| Yerevantsiner Alliance | 2,986 | 0.82 | 0 | |
| Heritage | 2,709 | 0.75 | 0 | |
| Yerevan Society Alliance | 2,502 | 0.69 | 0 | |
| Democratic Way Party | 799 | 0.22 | 0 | |
| Reformist Party | 792 | 0.22 | 0 | |
| Hayk Party | 682 | 0.19 | 0 | |
| Total | 362,782 | 100.00 | 65 | |
| Valid votes | 362,782 | 97.96 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 7,539 | 2.04 | ||
| Total votes | 370,321 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 848,346 | 43.65 | ||
| Source: Central Electoral Commission | ||||
Well-known comedian and actor Hayk Marutyan, who heads the electoral list of the My Step Alliance, became the next mayor of Yerevan as the My Step Alliance garnered more than 50 percent of mandates, and according to law, the person who heads the electoral list of the winning political force is considered mayor-elect. Hayk Marutyan assumed office on 10 October 2018. [27] He is elected for a term of 4 years.
Orinats Yerkir is a political party operating in Armenia. Its foundation was in 1998, and founder Artur Baghdasaryan continues to lead the party. The party was formerly known as Armenian Renaissance, during the run-up to the 2017 parliamentary elections.
The Hanrapetutyun Party is a pro-European political party in Armenia. The party was founded by ex-members from the Republican Party of Armenia and members of the Yerkrapah Volunteer Union: Aram Sargsyan, Albert Bazeyan, Vagharshak Harutiunyan, Ara Ketikyan, among others, in April 2001.
The People's Party is a political party in Armenia which was founded in 1995.
Yerevan City Council election was held on May 5, 2013. The Republican Party of Armenia won 56% of the total vote, Prosperous Armenia had 23%, while Barev Yerevan won over 8%. The opposition parties and the local observers denounced the elections as "unfair".
Hayk Hrachyayi Marutyan is an Armenian actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer and politician. He was the mayor of Yerevan from October 2018 to December 2021.
Bright Armenia is a classical liberal political party in Armenia founded on 12 December 2015.
Yerevan City Council elections were held on 14 May 2017. The Republican Party of Armenia won 71.25% of the total vote, the Way Out Alliance won 21%, while Yerkir Tsirani won 7.75%. Following the elections, Yerevan City Council elected Taron Margaryan as Mayor of Yerevan.
The Way Out Alliance or Yelk Alliance or simply Yelk or Way Out was a liberal political alliance of three political parties in Armenia: Civil Contract, Bright Armenia and the Hanrapetutyun Party. It was formed on 12 December 2016, before the 2017 Armenian parliamentary election. Its leaders were Edmon Marukyan, Nikol Pashinyan, and Aram Sargsyan. The alliance was dissolved on 12 September 2018 after its constituent parties agreed to participate in the 2018 parliamentary elections separately.
Snap parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 9 December 2018, as none of the parties in the National Assembly were able to put forward and then elect a candidate for Prime Minister in the two-week period following the resignation of incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on 16 October. They were the first elections after the 2018 revolution and the country's first-ever snap elections.
The Bright Alliance was a liberal political alliance of two political parties in Armenia: the Bright Armenia party and Republic party. It was formed on 28 August 2018, before the 2018 Yerevan City Council election. Its leaders were Edmon Marukyan and Aram Sargsyan.
The Mission Party was an Armenian political party founded on 2 February 2013. In August 2021, the party announced its decision to merge with the Country of Living Party.
Artak Haykazi Zeynalyan is an Armenian political figure, lawyer and former Minister of Justice.
The National Progress Party of Armenia is a political party in Armenia, founded on 3 October 2018, by a group of political activists following the 2018 Armenian Velvet Revolution.
Naira Zohrabyan is an Armenian politician who was a member of the National Assembly of Armenia for the Prosperous Armenia party.
The Apricot Country Party, also known as Yerkir Tsirani is a political party in Armenia.
The Homeland Salvation Movement was an Armenian political alliance, consisting of several opposition political parties, led by Vazgen Manukyan.
The Alliance Party, also known as the Alliance of Progressive Centrists, is an Armenian political party. It was founded in 2015 and is currently led by Tigran Urikhanyan.
The Reformist Party is an Armenian political party. It was founded in July 2016 by Vahan Babayan.
Hrachya Sargsyan is an Armenian politician. He was the mayor of Yerevan from 22 December 2021 to 17 March 2023. He was elected as a member of the My Step Alliance. He was elected Deputy Mayor per snap elections of Yerevan City Council on 23 September 2018 for the My Step Alliance, and was appointed as deputy mayor in October 2018. Sargsyan became Mayor on 22 December 2021 when incumbent mayor Hayk Marutyan lost a no confidence vote.
Yerevan City Council elections were held on 17 September 2023. The Yerevan City Council comprises 65 members, including the mayor and the first deputy mayor, elected through a proportional electoral system. City Council members are elected for a five-year term.
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