Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 21
By Elchin Mehdiyev – Trend:
An open confrontation started in Armenia between parliament speaker and prime minister, Aydin Guliyev, an expert, editor-in-chief of the Baki Khabar newspaper, told Trend.
Guliyev noted that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan openly acknowledged the existence of a constitutional crisis in Armenia.
“However, the crisis is much sharper and is about to deepen,” Guliyev said. “The number one goal for Pashinyan is holding early parliamentary election on condition that he remains prime minister. Otherwise it is impossible to get a majority in the new parliament. If he doesn’t retain the post of prime minister, he won’t be able to win the election.”
Guliyev noted that early parliamentary election is possible in the conditions of the resignation of the prime minister, in case of failure of the two-time attempt of the current parliament to elect a new prime minister of Armenia.
The expert added that Pashinyan fully understands how dangerous these conditions are for him.
“He is trying to make the current parliament amend the constitution, so that the parliament would have the power to self-dissolve,” the Azerbaijani expert added. “Only in this case Pashinyan will retain the post of prime minister, and at the same time he will be able to hold early parliamentary election.”
The expert also noted that Pashinyan wants to bring hundreds of thousands of people to the streets again and force the parliament to amend the constitution under the pressure of “street protests.”
“This is his serious plan, there is no other way, and in the coming weeks we will see hundreds of thousands of people who came to peaceful protests in Yerevan,” Guliyev said.
He noted that two focuses of resistance arose regarding Pashinyan’s plan.
“Former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan called on all pro-Russian forces to unite against Pashinyan,” the expert said. “Commenting on Pashinyan’s statements, the former president noted that “Russia is not the country to be spoken about in this way,” and such an assessment by Kocharyan can be considered as a call. The Armenian parliament’s chairman Ara Babloyan opened the second front of resistance by his tough statement. The parliament headed by Babloyan is preparing to confront Pashinyan’s policy aimed at amending the constitution.”
Guliyev also quoted the chairman of the Armenian parliament as saying that the public solidarity in Armenia is under threat, and this makes it possible to say that the country is on the verge of civil confrontation.