Armenians are casting their votes in early parliamentary elections Sunday.

Reformist leader Nikol Pashinian, 43, swept to power in May after weeks of anti-government protests that forced the sudden resignation of Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan, who was also a former president of Armenia.

Sargsyan’s ruling Republican Party, however, blocked Pashinian’s bid to become prime minister, resulting in more protests. The Republican Party then decided to back Pashinian for what it said was the good of the nation.

Armenia



Pashinian became prime minister, but recently stepped down so parliament could be dissolved for the early election. He remains Armenia’s acting prime minister.

Analysts expect him to be re-instated in office, with his My Step alliance in control of parliament.

Pashinian, a former newspaper editor who had been imprisoned for his activism, has promised to maintain close ties with Russia and fight corruption. He has also pledged to “step up cooperation with the United States and European Union.”</s>The URL has been copied to your clipboard

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Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and his political rival, Serzh Sarkisian, were among early voters in Armenia's capital, Yerevan, in snap parliamentary elections on December 9. The landmark vote comes after a peaceful change of government prompted by April protests.</s>The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party’s Central Committee congratulates the citizens of the Republic of Armenia on conducting fair, free and transparent snap parliamentary elections.

Regardless of the results, this election is a victory not only for Armenian citizens, but for all Armenians. For decades, through the use of violence, fraud, and election rigging, the rights of Armenian citizens have been restored today as they had the opportunity to not only vote for their favorite candidates again, but also ensure that every vote is meaningful. This is undoubtedly one of the greatest achievements of the velvet revolution.

We hope that this election will be the beginning of a new political culture in Armenia. One based on democratic principles, where the overriding struggle will not be based on an individual or a group’s narrow interest, but rather one of policy and ideological outlook.

We also congratulate the victorious parties and hope the newly elected National Assembly and future government will immediately immerse themselves with overcoming the many challenges facing the country, for the sake of a democratic, socially just and prosperous Armenia.

was last modified: by</s>Polls in Armenia to elect members of parliament in the first vote after the velvet revolution closed at 8:00 pm on Sunday, December 9.

According to data provided by the Central Electoral Commission, 1.025 million (39.54%) eligible voters cast ballots in Armenia’s parliamentary elections as of 17:00 pm.

Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan swept to power after months of peaceful protests and a civil disobedience campaign as tens of thousands of people took to the streets across the country demanding the resignation of former authorities.

Election campaign launched across Armenia on November 26 with leaders of parties and alliances traveling to the various provinces of the country for 12 days through December 7.

Eleven political forces were running in elections, including two blocs – Im Kayl “(My Step) and Menk (We) – as well as nine parties – Prosperous Armenia, National Progress, Christian Democratic Revival, Sasna Tsrer, Rule of Law, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Bright Armenia, the Republican Party of Armenia, Citizen’s Decision Social-Democratic Party.

Pashinyan resigned on October 16 after sweeping to power back in May.

My Step, led by Pashinyan himself, is expected to get a majority in the new legislature.</s>Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $5.75 and last traded at $5.80, with a volume of 15226892 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $5.97.

SNAP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Pivotal Research raised Snap from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $9.00 to $8.00 in a research report on Friday, October 12th. Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Snap from $17.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 11th. Wedbush set a $12.00 price objective on Snap and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 23rd. Zacks Investment Research cut Snap from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 16th. Finally, Aegis lowered their price target on Snap from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.64.

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.79 and a beta of -0.46.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 25th. The company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.05. Snap had a negative return on equity of 49.42% and a negative net margin of 131.39%. The company had revenue of $297.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $283.54 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Snap Inc will post -1.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In related news, CFO Timothy R. Stone sold 8,619 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.29, for a total value of $80,070.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,224,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,374,146.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Jerry James Hunter sold 97,656 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.42, for a total value of $626,951.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,767,834 shares in the company, valued at $11,349,494.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,224,747 shares of company stock worth $15,082,625.

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in Snap in the 2nd quarter worth $138,000. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC bought a new position in Snap in the 2nd quarter worth $138,000. Ingalls & Snyder LLC bought a new position in Snap in the 2nd quarter worth $140,000. Aperio Group LLC bought a new position in Snap in the 2nd quarter worth $142,000. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new stake in Snap in the 2nd quarter worth $152,000. 23.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Snap Inc operates as a camera company in the United States and internationally. The company offers Snapchat, a camera application that helps people to communicate through short videos and images. It also provides Camera, a tool to personalize and add context to Snaps; Friends Page that allows to creating and watching stories, chatting with groups, making voice and video calls, and communicating through a range of contextual stickers and Bitmojis; and Discover that helps to surface the most interesting stories from publishers, creators, and the community, based on a user's subscriptions and interests.

Receive News & Ratings for Snap Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Snap and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.</s>YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Preliminary results in Armenia's snap parliamentary election show the electoral bloc of the country's new leader winning an overwhelming majority.

A preliminary count from all precincts posted on the website of the Armenian Central Election Commission on Monday show Nikol Pashinian's My Step bloc with more than 70 percent of the vote.

A 43-year-old former journalist, Pashinian took over as prime minister in May after spearheading massive protests that forced his predecessor to step down. He had pushed for an early parliamentary election to win control of the chamber that was dominated by his political foes.

The former ruling Republican Party was shown polling less than 5 percent, which means it will be unlikely to make it into parliament.

The results have yet to be officially announced.</s>Armenia to hold snap polls after parliament fails to elect PM

The electoral bloc of Armenia's acting prime minister Nikol Pashinian won a landslide victory in Sunday's snap parliamentary elections, which were triggered by the reformist leader seeking to cement his political authority in the post-Soviet country.

The bloc led by Pashinian's Civil Contract party had 70.45 percent of the vote, and trailing in distant second place with 8.37 percent was the Prosperous Armenia party, according to results from 90 percent of precincts, the central election commission said.

The centrist My Step bloc also includes the Mission Party headed by rights activist Manuk Sukiasyan.

A small liberal pro-Western party, Bright Armenia, also cleared an electoral threshold with 6.33 percent of the votes, the commission said.

Pashinian became prime minister in May after spearheading weeks of peaceful anti-government rallies that ousted veteran leader Serzh Sarkisian.

The 43-year-old former journalist has pledged to root out endemic corruption and address widespread poverty, earning him supporters in the impoverished landlocked nation of about three million people.

"After the elections, we will be developing Armenian democracy and make an economic revolution happen," Pashinian told reporters after casting his ballot.

Pashinian's reform drive had been stalled for months by opposition from Sarkisian's then-ruling Republican Party, which dominated the National Assembly until his calculated resignation triggered parliament's dissolution last month.

The Republican Party took 4.56 percent in Sunday's elections, failing to clear the five-percent threshold to make it into parliament.

At a polling station in central Yerevan voters expressed optimism about the political change promised by Pashinian and vented their anger at former corrupt officials.

"Thanks to the revolution, we will finally have fair elections," 72-year-old pensioner Parzik Avetisyan told AFP.

"I voted for the positive change promised by Nikol (Pashinian)," he added.

Another voter, 52-year-old painter Garnik Arakelyan, said: "I want all those corrupt officials who for many years were robbing and humiliating people to be jailed."

Turnout was 48.63 percent when polls closed at 8 p.m. (1300 GMT), the election commission said.

Last week, Pashinian promised "the best elections Armenia has ever seen," without ballot stuffing or voter intimidation.

Parliamentary polls had not been scheduled to be held until 2022.

Analysts say Pashinian sought new elections while he is at the peak of his popularity.

In September, his bloc scored a landslide victory in municipal elections, winning more than 80 percent of the vote in the capital Yerevan, where nearly 40 percent of the former Soviet Republic's population lives.

"The elections were called on the wave of a revolutionary euphoria," analyst Gevorg Poghosyan told AFP.

"But after the polls, that sentiment will inevitably weaken and Pashinian and his team will face a reality check."

On foreign policy, Pashinian has said Armenia will "further strengthen (our) strategic alliance with Russia and, at the same time, step up cooperation with the United States and European Union".

Nine political parties and two electoral blocs were competing for mandates in the 101-seat National Assembly.

A party needs at least five percent of the vote to be elected to parliament, while an electoral bloc must clear a seven-percent barrier.

But -- regardless of how many votes they win -- opposition parties will take at least 30 percent of parliamentary seats, according to Armenia's electoral law.

More than 2.6 million people were eligible to vote in the election monitored by international observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.</s>The electoral bloc of Armenia's acting premier Nikol Pashinian was in the lead according to early results in Sunday's snap parliamentary elections triggered by the reformist leader, who is aiming to cement his political authority in the post-Soviet country.

The bloc led by Pashiniayn's Civil Contract party had 70.25 percent of the votes, and in second place with 9.15 percent was the Prosperous Armenia party, according to results from 25 percent of precincts, the central election commission said.

The 43-year-old former journalist became prime minister in May after spearheading weeks of peaceful anti-government rallies that ousted veteran leader Serzh Sargsyan.

However Pashinian's reform drive was stalled for months by opposition from Sargsyan's ruling party which dominated parliament.

After weeks of political manoeuvring by the prime minister and more street protests, the parliament was dissolved last month.

Pashinian's party is expected to get a majority in the new legislature, allowing him to push ahead with his campaign to reshape the South Caucasus nation's political landscape and spark an "economic revolution."

"We will turn Armenia into an industrial, high-tech, export-oriented country," Pashinian told supporters at a rally last week, pledging "the best elections Armenia has ever seen" and ruling out ballot stuffing and voter intimidation.

Last month, Pashinian stepped down as prime minister to pave the way for snap elections under a clause in Armenian law. He is currently acting prime minister.

Observers expect him to return to the post with his party in control of parliament.

Parliamentary elections had not been scheduled to be held until 2022.

Pashinian has pledged to root out endemic corruption and address widespread poverty, earning him supporters in the impoverished landlocked nation of about three million people.

"He organized this revolution well and intelligently," construction worker Georgi Grigoryan said of Pashinian. "We all hope that now everything will work out well."

On foreign policy, Pashinian has said Armenia will "further strengthen (our) strategic alliance with Russia and, at the same time, step up cooperation with the United States and European Union."

Analysts say Pashinian sought new elections while he is at the peak of his popularity.

In September, his bloc had a landslide victory in municipal elections, winning more than 80 percent of the vote in the capital Yerevan, where nearly 40 percent of the former Soviet Republic's population lives.

"The elections were called on the wave of a revolutionary euphoria," analyst Gevorg Poghosyan told French Press Agency (AFP).

"But after the polls, that sentiment will inevitably weaken and Pashinian and his team will face a reality check."

While many in Armenia have high expectations, others already started to complain about slow progress.

"I will be voting for Pashinian, because I believe he will jail all the corrupt officials who were pillaging the state for many years," Iveta Bakhshyan, a 43-year-old flower vendor in Yerevan, told AFP.

Meanwhile, pensioner Simon Martirosyan, 67, said he will not vote for Pashinian's party because "they failed to achieve any tangible results."

"Nothing has changed in my life during the seven months of Pashinian's rule, people are not better off," he told AFP in Yerevan.

Nine political parties and two electoral blocs are competing for mandates in the 101-seat legislature.

A party needs at least five percent of the votes to get elected in the parliament, while an electoral bloc must clear a seven-percent barrier.

Polls opened at 0400 GMT and will close at 1600 GMT. Results are expected to be released in the early hours on Monday.</s>Baku. 15 October. REPORT.AZ/ Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has arrived in the Azerbaijani occupied city Shusha, Report infroms citing Armenian press.

It was reported that he met with the leaders of separatist regime and visited Shusha.</s>Voter turnout at the start of Armenia's snap parliamentary elections following the legislature's dissolution last month has been average, election monitors said on Sunday.

According to the Armenian Central Electoral Commission, a total of 636,055 (24.53 percent) eligible voters had cast their ballots before 2 pm.
Armenian citizens vote in the country's first ever snap election and the first one since the Velvet Revolution.