Armenia’s incumbent prime minister and Civil Contract party leader, Nikol Pashinyan, cast his vote at polling station 8/20 in Yerevan’s Shengavit district.

He arrived at the polling station without members of his family. After placing his ballot into the ballot box, Pashinyan made a heart gesture with his hands, Sputnik Armenia reported.

Following the vote, Pashinyan said he was prepared to be guided by whatever decision the people make.

“Whatever the people decide, I will do,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told reporters, according to Aysor.am .

According to him, citizens should take into account the importance of supporting the state, independence, peace, and the revolution for future generations when making their choice.

“When making their choice, people should be guided by the need to uphold the state, independence, peace, and the revolution for our children,” he said.

Commenting on relations with Russia, Pashinyan said he sees no tensions and described assessments suggesting otherwise as artificial.

“Certain forces operating in Armenia are trying to create tensions in Armenia-Russia relations,” he said.

Regular elections to Armenia’s National Assembly have begun.

All 2,005 polling stations across the country opened at 8:00 a.m. The voter register includes 2,485,851 eligible voters. Polling stations will remain open until 8:00 p.m.

A total of 18 political forces are participating in the parliamentary elections: two party alliances and 16 individual parties. The electoral threshold is 4% for parties and 8% for alliances.