YEREVAN: Armenians voted Sunday in snap parliamentary elections called by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in an attempt to heal divisions after a disastrous war with Azerbaijan and reaffirm his mandate. But the reformist leader, who spearheaded peaceful protests in 2018, has lost much of his appeal after a humiliating defeat last year to Azerbaijan over a decades-old territorial dispute and is in a tight race with former president Robert Kocharyan.
“The destiny of our Armenian nation will be decided today,” said one voter, 73-year-old Emma Sahakyan.
Analysts say the election result is hard to predict, with both Pashinyan and Kocharyan drawing massive crowds on the eve of the polls and planning rallies after the vote.
Polls closed at 8 pm (1600 GMT), and first official results were expected later Sunday and early Monday.
The election in the South Caucasus country of three million people was watched by Armenia’s Soviet-era master Moscow, arch-foe Baku and Ankara, which backed Azerbaijan in the six-week war over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Kocharyan, who hails from Karabakh and was in power between 1998 and 2008, appeared in good spirits as he showed up at a Yerevan polling station.
“I voted for worthy peace and economic growth,” he said.
Pashinyan wrote on Facebook: “I am voting for the future of our state and people, for the development of Armenia.”
During a campaign marred by polarising rhetoric, he said he expected his Civil Contract party to secure 60 percent of the vote, though some pollsters say the estimate is far-fetched.
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