By RIA Novosti
Yerevan : Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisyan has won February 19 presidential elections, the country’s central election commission announced on Wednesday.
With 100% of the vote counted, Sarkisyan was declared the winner with 52.86% (863,000 votes). His nearest rivals, Armenia’s first president Levon-Ter-Petrosyan and ex-parliamentary speaker Artur Bagdasaryan received 21.5% (351,300 votes) and 11.6% (272,300 votes), respectively.
Vaan Ovannisyan, a deputy parliamentary speaker and a member of the Dashnaktsutyun party’s bureau, garnered 6.1% (100,900 votes). Five other candidates failed to clear the 1% hurdle.
A total of 1.67 million people took part in the country’s elections, with voter turnout of 69.2%. The polls were monitored by 14,000 observers from 39 local and six international organizations.
The final protocol was signed by six of the seven members of the election commission.