26 December 2020, 08:34
Nikol Pashinyan announces early elections
The Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, has offered the Parliament to hold early elections in 2021 to test the level of confidence in the current authorities.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that after the agreement to end the hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh came into force on November 10, the Armenian opposition demanded Nikol Pashinyan's resignation. Since December 22, a round-the-clock rally of Pashinyan's opponents has been held near the building of the Armenian Government.
On December 25, Nikol Pashinyan stated that he intended to stay in the post of the Premier, if the level of citizens' confidence in him is high enough. In his opinion, the protests organized by the opposition are not massive enough; and the only way to check the level of support for the current authorities is by early parliamentary elections.
"I propose to the parliamentary and interested forces to hold early parliamentary elections in 2021," says the post in Pashinyan's personal Facebook page, as translated by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
The Armenian opposition raised the issue of the Nikol Pashinyan's resignation immediately after the signing of the peace agreement with Azerbaijan, which entered into force on November 10. The consideration of the above-mentioned initiative by the Armenian parliament is being hindered by the martial law still in force in the country. Both the President of Armenia and Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II called on Nikol Pashinyan to resign. The Prime Minister himself said that he was ready to resign if the people demanded that. At the same time, Nikol Pashinyan refused to consider the actions in Yerevan an expression of popular protest.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 25, 2020 at 08:42 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
