Pativ Unem bloc’s top number to accept parliament mandate

YEREVAN, June 23. /ARKA/. The chairman of the Homeland party Artur Vanetsyan, who topped the electoral list of Pativ Unem (I have the honor) bloc in last Sunday’s early parliamentarian elections, said he was going to accept the parliament seat if the bloc leaders decide to do so.

"If a decision is made that the bloc accepts the seats, I definitely will not leave my team and we will go to parliament too to continue our struggle there," he said to a news conference today.

Vanetsyan said even if his bloc refuses to accept the seats, the legislature will continue its activities anyway.

Ex-president Robert Kocharyan, whose Hayastan alliance came in distant second, said on Tuesday that the alliance will accept the parliament seats despite their decision to challenge their official results at Constitutional Court.

Kocharyan said the alliance’s presence in the National Assembly will make their struggle (against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government) much more intense.

According to the Central Election Commission, Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party won almost 54 percent of the vote and will control 71 seats in the 107-member parliament.

Hayastan came in a distant second with 21 percent and will control 29 seats and another former president Serzh Sargsyan’s Pativ Unem bloc, which got 5.2 percent, will control 7 seats. -0-