December 10

7:00 p.m.: Vigen Sargsyan, the number one slot in the Republican Party of Armenia’s proportional party list for the snap parliamentary elections made the following statement on his Facebook page:

Dear compatriots,

The snap parliamentary elections, the results of which will formulate the 7th convocation of Armenia’s National Assembly, have ended. These elections were democratic in form but not in essence. They were organized in an atmosphere of intolerance towards alternative thinking, pressure and prejudice and an unprecedented abuse of administrative resources were utilized against candidates and their supporters and local self governance bodies. One of the main goals of transitioning into a parliamentary system was to create the opportunity for different, even opposite opinions to coexist. Therefore, it is regrettable that the campaign created deep segregating divides.

We wish success to the forces entering parliament and to the government they will be forming because the security of the country and the nation and the prospects of development depend on this. The concerns we voiced during the campaign were not propagandistic in nature but expressed our deep disagreement with external, security, defence policies, with socioeconomic tendencies, the disintegration of national values and most importantly, the voiced views and manifest first steps taken in regards to the Artsakh issue. We will continue our work in regards to these issues as an extra-parliamentary force.

This domestic heated political competition should not encourage the enemies of Armenia and Artsakh. Despite disagreements during inter-party struggles, the Republican Party remains committed to being a part of the resolution of the problems facing the nation and will continue to stand firm next to our triumphant Armed Forces.

And in conclusion, we thank all our supporters. You trusted and voted for us when the circumstances were difficult. Of course the conclusive results of the official numbers of the elections do not express the results we were fighting for. Be assured that we will do everything in our power to make sure that the noise of populism does not override your voice and issues concerning you will continue to be included in the country’s political agenda.

God protect our country and nation,

RPA Election Campaign Headquarters

5:15 p.m.: The Armenian Revolutionary Federation issued a statement today regarding the results of the parliamentary elections. The party was not able to meet the 5 percent minimum threshold to secure a place in parliament. They received 3.89 percent of the vote. Below is a translation of that statement:

As a result of the Snap Parliamentary Elections, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation will not be presented in the National Assembly.

This is a defeat but it is not the defeat of our voters.

In this defeat we understood the following:

1. People voted for the individual and not ideology.

2. An impressively large segment of voters are concentrated on the image of the “internal enemy” and are astoundingly indifferent regarding external and internal dangers.

3. Today, the stance of the ARF is understood only by a minority.

4. The Artsakh factor is not properly emphasized on the political agenda.

5. A National Assembly with no clear ideological and national features has been formed.

The short campaign period was important in:

Giving us a realistic idea of the army of supporters that will be a part of our fight. Its numbers are small but realistic and its decisions are clear, guided by inner conviction, beliefs and a clear understanding.

Giving us the opportunity to debate, voice our concerns, counteract dangerous trends, bring our arguments to the table. For the time being, our words have not been widely perceived and have been underestimated but we have succeeded in shining a light on the situation from a perspective that has been ignored, to create an opportunity to think and analyze and spur vigilance. Over the course of time, our citizens, who are concerned about the fate of their homeland and who properly understand the importance of the Artsakh issue, will compare developments that will be received daily with the concerns we voiced and will understand what we were talking about.

We turn the page on this stage of history and we enter a new one with an unshakable pan-Armenian structure, our dreams for the future and resolve to fight.

4:45 p.m.: Suren Sahakyan of the Citizen’s Decision Social Democratic Party said the following regarding the election results:

“I want to thank everyone for their vote and trust that was given to us, to my party and me. When I say thank you I mean all the love, sincerity, tenderness that I can express. Irrespective of the results, I have felt your unbelievable energy on the streets, on social networks through letters and something which at this moment, I want to transfer back to all of you. It will be hard to overestimate the value of every vote given to us. We will have many votes in the future, but what we witnessed yesterday is unbelievably touching.

I want to say a couple of words about the team that I worked with. We will publish our results and you will see how limited our resources were and how fantastic the achievements are.

I want to congratulate my friends who became members of parliament. I want to congratulate all of us because we will not have Republicans in parliament in the coming five years and they will not poison our lives. Before and during the revolution and now, my problem is not with the people, but the values that this force introduced and nourished in our society. It is disappointing, but this system of values is still in our society. What we have to do is destroy this political mentality.

We are here, with the same strength, principles and full of the same steadfast faith in achieving an ideal Armenia. We will meet again in the very near future."

4:15 p.m.: The leader of the Bright Armenia Party, Edmon Marukyan and several other party members held a press conference to talk about the results of the snap parliamentary elections. Bright Armenia was able to secure 6.37 percent of the vote, coming in second place following the Prosperous Armenia Party, led by business tycoon Gagik Tsarukyan.

During the press conference, Marukyan said that his party acknowledges the validity of the elections and thanked all those who placed their trust in the Bright Armenia Party. “We consider this to be the evaluation of our active endeavors over the past three years and the unconditional demand of the public to build a truly liberal state based on the European model.” He went on to say that with the December 9 elections, the revolution has come to an end and the country is moving to a new stage of systemic, institutional reforms where the parliament needs a power that has conceptual approaches and can serve as a counterbalance.

He went on to say: “Politics and business are not separated in New Armenia. And we all know that this force [referring to Prosperous Armenia] will not be a real opposition. I state that only Bright Armenia has the resources to be an opposition in parliament. Of course, there will be some political forces outside of parliament and this is natural. Huge resources were invested and an enormous amount of propaganda played against us. Naturally, all of this had its impact. But we have what we have and I am sure that if the provision of government on segregating business and politics would have been realized during these last six months, Bright Armenia would now be the second force in parliament. There is no doubt for this and this is the only reason why we are not the second force now.”