Armenia's new reformist prime minister on Monday won a landslide victory in municipal elections in the capital Yerevan, seen as a vote of confidence after protests brought him to power this year.
The snap polls for the city council, or the Council of Elders, on Sunday were the major first test for Nikol Pashinyan's reformist drive after mass anti-government protests ousted veteran leader Serzh Sarkisian and propelled the 43-year-old to power in May.
Pashinyan's "My Step" bloc won over 80 percent of the vote in the capital, where nearly 40 percent of the country's population lives, results showed.
The runner-up party, Flourishing Armenia, won less than seven percent.
Moscow-backed Sarkisian's former Republican Party did not participate in the poll.
The results mean that Pashinyan's ally Hayk Marutyan, a 41-year-old former actor and comedian who also supported the mass protests, becomes Yerevan mayor.
The mayoral seat has been vacant since former mayor Taron Margaryan resigned in July over corruption allegations and protests urging him to quit.
Snap polls were scheduled when the city council was unable to select a new mayor.
Armenia's parliament is mostly comprised of members of Sarkisian's Republican Party, and Pashinyan needs support from the public in order to conduct snap parliamentary polls.
The result of Sunday's vote was further proof that Armenians support the protest hero-turned-prime minister and his "revolution," said political analyst Hakob Badalyan.
"Pashinyan received a mandate from the public at the ballot box," he told AFP, adding that Armenians' support for economic reforms and the fight against corruption was not just protest "euphoria."
Pashinyan has pledged to clear up endemic corruption and boost living standards after coming to power in the ex-Soviet country of less than three million people.
Armenia’s new reformist prime minister on Monday won a landslide victory in municipal elections in the capital Yerevan, seen as a vote of confidence after protests brought him to power this year.
The snap polls for the city council, or the Council of Elders, on Sunday were the major first test for Nikol Pashinyan’s reformist drive after mass anti-government protests ousted veteran leader Serzh Sarkisian and propelled the 43-year-old to power in May.
Pashinyan’s “My Step” bloc won over 80 percent of the vote in the capital, where nearly 40 percent of the country’s population lives, results showed.
The runner-up party, Flourishing Armenia, won less than seven percent.
Moscow-backed Sarkisian’s former Republican Party did not participate in the poll.
The results mean that Pashinyan’s ally Hayk Marutyan, a 41-year-old former actor and comedian who also supported the mass protests, becomes Yerevan mayor.
The mayoral seat has been vacant since former mayor Taron Margaryan resigned in July over corruption allegations and protests urging him to quit.
Snap polls were scheduled when the city council was unable to select a new mayor.
Armenia’s parliament is mostly comprised of members of Sarkisian’s Republican Party, and Pashinyan needs support from the public in order to conduct snap parliamentary polls.
The result of Sunday’s vote was further proof that Armenians support the protest hero-turned-prime minister and his “revolution,” said political analyst Hakob Badalyan.
“Pashinyan received a mandate from the public at the ballot box,” he told AFP, adding that Armenians’ support for economic reforms and the fight against corruption was not just protest “euphoria.”
Pashinyan has pledged to clear up endemic corruption and boost living standards after coming to power in the ex-Soviet country of less than three million people.
