France supports Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity

YEREVAN, June 23, /ARKA/. France welcomed the holding of legislative elections in Armenia on June 20, saying that according to information from the Central Electoral Commission of Armenia, the Civil Contract party led by acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has taken a significant lead.

‘France takes note of the preliminary conclusions of the election observation mission of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Office (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on the satisfactory unfolding of this election,’ French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

It said France hopes these elections will enable Armenia to meet the many challenges it is facing. It reaffirms its determination to support Armenia as it seeks to do so, along with its unwavering commitment to Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and to strengthening its democratic institutions.

According to the official results announced by the Central Election Commission (CEC) on Monday morning, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party won almost 54 percent of the vote and will retain a two-thirds majority in the Armenian parliament.

Ex-president Robert Kocharyan’s Armenia bloc came in a distant second with 21 percent, followed by the opposition Pativ Unem alliance led by another ex-president, Serzh Sargsyan which got 5.2 percent.

Although Pativ Unem failed to clear the 7 percent threshold it will have parliament seats because Armenian law stipulates that at least three political forces must be represented in the National Assembly.

Kocharyan’s bloc said on Monday that it will ask Armenia’s Constitutional Court to overturn the official results of Sunday’s parliamentary elections. It claimed that the results are “extremely dubious.” “We have serious grounds to consider these elections illegitimate,” it said in a statement. -0-