Republicans score a landslide win, Beglaryan "elected" mayor of Yerevan

Central Electoral Commission publicised the preliminary results of Yerevan’s municipal elections. Accordingly, the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) has received 47,39 percent of the vote, which gives the party more than 50 percent of the sits in the elderly council, which, according to the law, automatically makes the acting mayor of Yerevan Gagik Beglaryan, the candidate occupying the 1st slot on Party’s proportional list,  an elected mayor of Yerevan.
“Prosperous Armenia” party comes a distant second with 22,71% of the vote, while the main opposition – Armenian National Congress pre-election block finishes third with 17,41%.  Republican party, “Prosperous Armenia” party and Armenian National Congress are the only three political forces able to pass the minimum threshhold defined for entry into the elderly council, which is 7% for political forces and 9% for pre-election blocks.
The opposition claimed widespread violations of law and electoral process, while the police and General Prosecutor issued multiple statements refuting most of those claims.
Spokesperson for Armenian National Congress Levon Zurabian invited a press conference on Sunday, 1 hour after the polling stations closed, in which he described the elections as “criminal”.
It seems, that we’re in for a rough ride for the next couple of days, if not for weeks or months, with opposition protesting the election results and the authorities rigorously rejecting cases of fraud, even as a wealth of photo and video evidence emerges.