Sputnik News Service, Russia
May 5, 2018 Saturday 10:25 PM UTC
Armenia's Pashinyan Pledges to Resign as Prime Minister If Conditions for Election Created
YEREVAN, May 5 (Sputnik) – Armenian opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan, nominated for the post of prime minister, promised on Saturday to leave this post, when conditions for holding democratic election are created.
On May 1, the Armenian parliament failed to elect a new prime minister, with the only candidate, Pashinyan, receiving 45 votes out of the required 53, which led to the resuming of protests. Under Armenian law, the parliament has to elect prime minister in a week, or else it will be automatically dissolved. Pashinyan was renominated for the post.
"When I see that there are full-fledged conditions for holding truly democratic, legitimate and transparent elections, I will resign," Pashinyan told reporters.
Pashinyan also noted that there are several options for the composition of the future government, and the choice of options depends on the political situation.
"We will try to form a government of consent," Pashinyan said.
On May 2, following Pashinyan's non-election, his supporters took to the streets and started to block roads, the subway, railways and bridges causing almost a total blockade of communication lines in Armenia. Later in the day, the Armenian ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) said that it would not nominate its candidate for prime minister's post and would support the candidate proposed by one third of the parliament's lawmakers in the upcoming vote.
A political crisis in Armenia broke out earlier in April after ex-President Serzh Sargsyan was nominated as prime minister. This was largely regarded as a way for Sargsyan, who previously served as president for two terms, to stay in power. Last Monday, Sargsyan resigned amid large-scale anti-government protests. Armenian First Deputy Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan became acting prime minister. However, rallies in the country continued as the opposition demanded an interim prime minister who will not be from the ruling RPA.