Pro-Russian opposition party calls for Armenian election result annulment

The pro-Russian opposition Strong Armenia party on Friday called on Armenia's election commission to annul the June 7 parliamentary election result, citing voting irregularities. The ruling Civil Contract party of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan won 49.8% of the vote, while Strong Armenia secured 23.2%. The opposition party, led by billionaire Russian-Armenian businessman Samvel Karapetyan, ran on a platform of maintaining close ties with Russia. Moscow was accused of trying to influence the race through economic and diplomatic pressure, and quickly condemned the result, claiming Western interference.