Snap parliamentary elections will be held in Armenia on 9 December 2018,[1] 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 Nikol Pashinyan's resignation on 16 October 2018.[2][3][4]
The ballot paper has two sections; one of which is a closed list of candidates for the party at the national level and the other an open list of candidates for the constituency (of which there are 13) that the voter is voting in. Voters vote for a party at the national level and can also give a preference vote to any of the candidates for the same party in a district list.[7] Seats are allocated to parties using their national share of the vote, with half awarded to those on the national list and half to those who receive the most preference votes on the district lists.[7] Four seats are reserved for national minorities (Assyrians, Kurds, Russians and Yazidis), with parties having separate lists for the four groups.[7] A gender quota requires at least 25% of a list to be male or female, and nationwide lists can't include more than three consecutive members of the same gender.
If a party receives a majority of the vote but wins less than 54% of the seats, they will be awarded additional seats to give them 54% of the total. If a party wins over two-thirds of the seats, the losing parties will be given extra seats reducing the share of seats of winning party to two-thirds. If a government is not formed within six days of the preliminary results being released, a run-off round between the top two parties must be held within 28 days. The party that wins the run-off will be given the additional seats required for a 54% majority, with all seats allocated in the first round preserved.[7]
Proposed changes
Before its resignation, the government submitted a bill to the National Assembly proposing modifications to the electoral system. These included lowering the thresholds for parties and electoral alliances to 4% and 6%, respectively, minimum representation of four political forces in the parliament (provided the fourth strongest receives at least 2% of the votes)[8], abolishment of open lists of candidates from 13 regional constituencies[9] leaving only nationwide closed lists and introduction of TV debates.[10] The bill sought to raise the minimum representation of each gender from 25% to 30% of the seats on a party list. On 22 October, a vote was held on the bill.[11] Most members of the Republican Party (RPA) boycotted the vote; this meant that there were not enough MPs present to pass the bill into law (63). The final vote was 56 in favour, three against.[12][13]RPA deputy chairman Armen Ashotian insisted that the electoral system must not be changed less than two months before the elections, as this would amount to "building democracy in the country with undemocratic methods".[14] The Pashinyan government submitted the bill to parliament a second time, and it was discussed on 29 October.[15] Once again, the bill failed to receive enough votes, and as a result the election will take place according to the legislation created by the RPA-era government.[16]
List of participating parties and alliances
Parties and electoral alliances were required to inform the CEC of their participation in the election and submit the corresponding documents by 6:00 pm on November 14.[17][18] Nine parties and two alliances (listed below in accordance with their number on the ballot paper)[19] will participate in the election:[20][21][22]
Some politicians and analysts criticized the date of the election based on the fact that an amended Electoral Code was not passed by the parliament. Paruyr Hayrikyan, the leader of Union for National Self-Determination, expects the elections to be "antidemocratic".[36]
Vazgen Manukyan, the leader of National Democratic Union, said while they were preparing for elections in spring, elections in December are too close to get prepared for. He also said that they "do not consider that the hasty elections will promote the establishment of stable political field".[38]
Aram Gaspar Sargsyan, leader of Democratic Party of Armenia, staying away from elections[30], because of old electoral code, shared his impression that new authorities prefer that one over the electoral code with amendments. He also stated, that "this elections will be the same as in 2017".[29]
Some critics believe that the current legislation favored the Republican Party of Armenia in the previous parliamentary election.[39] The country's former ruling party, commanded a majority in the National Assembly prior to the elections, initially called for elections to take place in summer 2019 in order to give the parties time to prepare for elections and make amendments to Armenia's electoral code.[40][41]
Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan proposed to form a tradition of holding live pre-election debates involving the top figures of all forces participating in the elections.[43]
On 28 November, vice chairman of the Republican PartyVigen Sargsyan invited Pashinyan to take part in a live TV debate[44] but the proposal was turned down by Pashinyan.[45]
Leaders of all 11 political forces took part in a live debate that was hosted by Armenian Public Television on 5 December.[46]
Alleged violations
Independent reports
On 28 November, it was reported that a working group set up by Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia revealed several violations, such as using insults and intolerance to influence others' opinions.[47]
Former Ombudsman Larisa Alaverdyan said that black PR has been used from the first days of the campaign, and called on all participants to move to a positive field. Also she mentioned that unlike in previous years, the early start of campaign is not regarded as a violation of law by the CEC.[48]
Also on 28 November, newspaper Zhamanak reported that in Yerevan some posters of Bright Armenia party had been torn down and replaced with My Step Alliance posters.[49]
Claimed by campaign participants
On 27 November, the Republican Party said that some of the acting PM's statements during the election campaign were clear examples of hate speech.[50]
Observers from all four factions of the Russian parliament will also take part in the monitoring.[58][59]
Voting at 1,500 polling stations (where over 90% of voters are registered) out of 2010 will be broadcast live.[60]
Head of the European Union permanent delegation to Armenia, ambassador Piotr Switalski has declared that Armenia has managed to achieve the highest standards of freedom of speech following the velvet revolution. According to the diplomat, the country now ensures freedom of expression and assembly. Switalski said he hopes it will be possible to minimize hate speech during the election campaign.[61]
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