A Pyrrhic victory in Yerevan? Understanding Armenia’s one party dominance

Only six weeks after parliamentary elections that saw the ruling Republican Party of Armenia retain its power, a municipal election in the Armenian capital Yerevan resulted in an even larger victory for the incumbent party. But as Richard Giragosian writes, the election result did little to obscure serious shortcomings in the voting process, with allegations of vote buying and interference by the ruling Republicans. And more troubling, the victory itself may have damaged the image and standing of the Republican Party, amid renewed concerns over the apparent risk of one-party rule in Armenia.