Ruling party of Armenia leads in parliamentary vote

Armenia's ruling Republican Party backed by President Serzh Sargsyan is leading in Sunday's parliamentary election with 49.1 percent of the votes, said the Central Electoral Commission of Armenia on Monday.

With over 85 percent of the precincts' votes calculated, the closest rival Tsarukyan Alliance led by millionaire Gagik Tsarukyan has garnered 27.5 percent of the votes, according to the commission.

Preliminary results also showed that the Republican Party's junior coalition partner Armenian Revolutionary Federation and an opposition bloc known as YELQ (translated from Armenian as "A Way Out") have passed the minimum threshold, receiving respectively 6.7 percent and 7.5 percent of the votes.

The voter turnover was reported by the commission to be 60.86 percent from a total of about 2.5 million eligible voters.

Armenians went to the polling stations nationwide on Sunday to elect a new parliament that will have greater power after the constitutional amendments take effect in April 2018.

A total of five parties and four coalitions of parties took part in the election.

If no party or coalition of parties secures at least 54 percent of what is called "stable majority" by the Armenian Electoral Code, a second round of election will be held between the two top finishers.

The final results of the elections will be announced by the commission within a week after the election, according to the Electoral Code. Endi