U.S. congratulates Armenia on general election, looks forward to work with new parliament, government

This year has been a time of remarkable change in Armenia, the U.S. State Department said in a press release on the early elections of parliament that were held on December 9.

“The United States congratulates the people of Armenia on the conduct of their December 9 parliamentary elections. We welcome the assessment by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights that Armenia’s parliamentary elections were competitive and that candidates were able to campaign freely. The United States concurs with the OSCE’s preliminary conclusions that the elections process enjoyed broad public trust and respected fundamental freedoms. We encourage the authorities to address OSCE and Venice Commission recommendations for future elections.

This year has been a time of remarkable change in Armenia. For 27 years, the United States has sought to support the development of democratic processes and institutions in Armenia, and we will continue to do so. We look forward to working with the new Armenian Parliament and Government to deepen our bilateral partnership and cooperation to strengthen the rule of law and democratic institutions, combat corruption, promote trade and investment, and safeguard regional and global security”, deputy spokesperson of the Department of State Robert J. Palladino said in the press release.

Caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s My Step Alliance won a landslide victory in the general election with 70,43 %.

Two other parties, Prosperous Armenia (BHK) and Luminous Armenia (LHK), were also elected to parliament with 8,27% and 6,37% votes respectively.

The former ruling party, the Republican Party (HHK), failed to garner the minimum required votes to pass to parliament.