May 17, 2012 - 15:09 AMT
Expert says parliamentary elections won’t affect Armenia-Russia ties

Caucasus Institute director, political analyst Alexander Iskandaryan said that May 6 parliamentary elections in Armenia will affect the country’s domestic policy, with the parliament also influencing formation of new government.

However, the expert said, the processes above won’t affect Armenia-Russia ties. “No serious political forces in Armenia support significant reconsideration of ties with the country’s allies, especially Russia,” the expert concluded.

The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) won a decisive victory at the parliamentary elections on May 6 gaining 44,02% of votes.

The coalition Prosperous Armenia party comes second with 30,12% of votes and the opposition ANC is placed third with 7,08%. The opposition parties Heritage (5,76%) and ARF Dashnaktsutyun (5,67%), as well as the third coalition Orinats Yerkir party (5,51%) also joined the new parliament.

RPA gained absolute majority of 69 seats in the 131-member National Assembly, 40 by proportional and 29 by majority system of voting.

Prosperous Armenia got 37 seats (28 by proportional and 9 by majority systems) and ANC was left with 7.

Dashnaktsutyun and Orinats Yerkir got 6 seats each (5 by proportional and 1 by majority systems), while Heritage got 5.