IFES Election Guide - Election Profile for Armenia

Election Profile:

Overview

Results

Of Interest/Links

Sources

Country: Armenia
Official Name: Republic of Armenia
Election Type: Presidential
Date: February 18, 2013

Source for election date

At stake in this election:

The office of President of Armenia

Description of government structure:

Chief of State: President Serzh SARGSYAN
Head of Government: Prime Minister Tigran SARGSYAN
Assembly: Armenia has a unicameral National Assembly (Azgayin Zhoghov) with 131 seats.

Description of electoral system:

The President is elected by popular vote to serve a 5-year term.
In the National Assembly (Azgayin Zhoghov), 90 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms and 41 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms.***

*** There is a five percent threshold for the party-list tier.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

Serzh SARGSYAN
Party: Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) / Հայաստանի Հանրապետական Կուսակցություն, (ՀՀԿ)
Raffi K. HOVHANNISYAN**
Party: Heritage Party / Ժառանգություն» կուսակցությունը
Arman MELIKYAN
Independent(s): N/A
Paruyr HAYRIKYAN****
Party: Union for National Self-Determination / Ազգային ինքնորոշում միավորում
Hrant BAGRATYAN
Party: Freedom Party / Ազատություն կուսակցությունն
Andreas GHUKASYAN*******
Independent(s): N/A
Vardan SEDRAKYAN
Independent(s): N/A

** HOVHANNISYAN is running as a self-nominated candidate in this election.
**** HAYRIKYAN was shot on January 31, 2013 outside his home. According to the constitution he could have asked the Constitutional Court for a two-week postponement of the February 18 vote, but declined to do so and as such election date remains unchanged.
******* GHUKASYAN has been on a hunger strike since January 21, 2013 in protest of Serzh SARGSYAN's bid for re-election, demanding he be removed from candidacy.

Last Presidential election:

The last presidential election (2008) was marred by violence during the post-election opposition protests. On March 1 of that year, the demonstrators were attacked by police and military forces resulting in at least 10 people killed, with a 20-day state of emergency declared by the president. Therefore the upcoming election is seen a test for the incumbent.