President Disrupts Plans: Under What Circumstances Will a Second Round of Elections Be Held?

The early elections scheduled in Armenia may not conclude in a single round. During a parliamentary briefing in the National Assembly, member of the 'My Step' faction Hamazasp Danielyan commented on under what conditions this could happen.

“If no political force manages to secure at least 54 percent of the parliamentary mandates in the early parliamentary elections, and a coalition comprising 54 percent of parliament seats cannot be formed among three forces within six days, then a second round of elections will take place in Armenia,” Danielyan stated.

He also emphasized that this provision is outlined in the current electoral code, while 'My Step' was trying to alter the legislative requirement concerning coalitions with the amendments to the Electoral Code adopted last week before the elections scheduled for June 20.

Early elections will be conducted under the current law, as President of Armenia did not sign the new law within the designated timeframe, thus it will not be applied during the June 20 elections.

It should be noted that the newly adopted law changes the procedure for forming political coalitions, prioritizing the party or alliance that received a majority of votes in the election. The latter has 14 days to form a political coalition with other parties (alliances) that participated in the distribution of mandates, provided that the total number of votes in their favor is sufficient to obtain 52 percent of the total number of distributed mandates and they have reached an agreement on the prime ministerial candidate.