Pashinyan's party gets 64 parliament seats, 41 seats go to opposition - Armenian CEC

YEREVAN. June 15 (Interfax) - The Civil Contract party of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has won 64 parliament seats, Armenian Central Electoral Commission (CEC) chair Vahagn Hovakimyan said.

There are 105 seats in the Armenian parliament.

"The Civil Contract party gets 61 seats plus three seats that go to representatives of ethnic minorities," Hovakimyan said at a CEC meeting on Sunday.

The Strong Armenia opposition bloc led by Tashir Group head Samvel Karapetyan got 28 seats plus one for a representative of ethnic minorities, he said.

The Armenia opposition bloc of former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan got 12 seats.

Various opposition parties held a massive protest in front of the CEC building at the time it was in meeting.

The CEC decision to cancel voting results at three polling stations, which prevented the Prosperous Armenia party of businessman Gagik Tsarukyan from passing the election threshold, "had no effect on the election results," Hovakimyan said.

Six opposition parties, including the Strong Armenia and Armenia blocs, issued a statement on Sunday, saying that the election results published by the CEC "could not lay a foundation for the legitimate authorities in Armenia."

"Responsibility for any possible further escalation fully rests with Pashinyan and his regime. We will continue to act consistent with laws and the constitution, protecting the right of people to a free expression of will," the statement said.

The CEC published final results of the June 7 parliament elections on Sunday. Pashinyan's Civil Contract Party gained 49.7456% of the vote, which allows it to form a new government singlehandedly.

Karapetyan's Strong Armenia gained 23.2710% of the vote, and Kocharyan's Armenia got 9.9231%.

Tsarukyan's Prosperous Armenia gained 3.893% of the vote, and failed to pass the 4% election threshold.

In total, 1,476,769 or 58.9% of voters cast their ballots.