Tuesday,
Pashinian Again Named For PM To Force Snap Elections
• Astghik Bedevian
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian during a rally of his supporters in
Yerevan, May 8, 2018
Armenia’s acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has again been nominated as a
candidate for the top government post in a tactical move designed to lead to
the dissolution of parliament and holding of snap general elections, Yelk
faction leader Lena Nazarian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) on
Tuesday.
The nomination came from two parliamentary factions, including Yelk, and some
individual lawmakers, she added.
The pro-government Yelk faction nominated Pashinian as a candidate also a week
ago and then the acting prime minister’s candidacy was voted down in accordance
with an apparent political agreement.
Under Armenia’s constitution, snap elections can be called only if the National
Assembly fails to elect a prime minister twice within two weeks after the prime
minister’s resignation. Pashinian resigned for tactical reasons on October 16.
For nominations for the second round of voting, however, the signatures of one
third of lawmakers are required. Yelk has only nine seats in the 105-member
National Assembly, but the Tsarukian Bloc, which has 31 lawmakers and signed a
memorandum with Pashinian earlier this month to back his push for fresh
elections, as well as four lawmakers who earlier quit the former ruling
Republican Party’s faction, provided the necessary signatures for the
nomination several hours before the deadline.
Like it was a week ago Pashinian’s candidacy is again expected to be voted down
in a ballot scheduled for November 1.
If that happens the parliament will be dissolved by virtue of law and new
general elections will be held in the first half of December.
Pashinian, who came to power on the wave of anti-government protests last
spring and whose political team is tipped to win the likely early parliamentary
polls by a landslide, will continue to perform his prime-ministerial duties in
the interim.
Former Ruling Party Signals No Obstacles To Pashinian Plans
• Astghik Bedevian
Deputy speaker of parliament and spokesperson for the former ruling Republican
Party of Armenia Eduard Sharmazanov, 1Oct, 2018
The former ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), which still has the
largest faction in the National Assembly, has confirmed that it will not vote
for Nikol Pashinian in a prime-ministerial election scheduled in parliament
later this week, thus clearing the way for the acting prime minister’s plans to
force snap general elections.
Pashinian is the sole candidate in the November 1 election after two factions,
including his allies, Yelk, and some individual lawmakers formerly affiliated
with the HHK, nominated him for the second round of voting.
Under Armenia’s constitution, snap elections can be called only if the National
Assembly fails to elect a prime minister twice within two weeks after the prime
minister’s resignation, which Pashinian submitted for tactical reasons on
October 16.
Lawmakers already failed to elect Pashinian once during a ballot taken on
October 24.
Another failure will trigger the dissolution of parliament and holding of fresh
elections in the first half of December, with Pashinian and his political team
confident of winning an outright majority in the next legislature.
Talking to RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) on Tuesday, HHK
spokesperson and deputy speaker of the outgoing parliament Eduard Sharmazanov
confirmed that the former ruling party will not raise obstacles to the
dissolution of parliament by fielding its own candidate or voting for Pashinian.
“All political statements of the HHK are clear, straightforward and logical,”
Sharmazanov said.“Being against hasty elections in December, nevertheless, we
are not going to vote for Pashinian’s candidacy.”
At the same time, the senior HHK member continued his criticism of the current
government and its acting head. “It has become clear during the past six months
that Pashinian is an eloquent speaker, but a poor prime minister,” Sharmazanov
said.
With all the rest parliamentary factions vowing not to support Pashinian’s
candidacy, the HHK statement makes the parliament’s dissolution and early
elections a foregone conclusion.
Pashinian, who came to power on the wave of antigovernment protests ousting HHK
leader Serzh Sarkisian as prime minister last spring, did not have to be
nominated to ensure the dissolution of parliament. Under the country’s
constitution, the parliament would have to be disbanded even if no one was
nominated for the second round of voting. But the popular leader said he chose
the way of nomination to use the occasion to address a number of political and
economic issues from the parliament tribune.
Press Review
“Zhamanak” suggests that the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun)
is effectively responsible for the second narrow defeat of a key election bill
in parliament on Monday. “The absence of two lawmakers of this party’s faction
proved decisive in the outcome of the ballot in which the bill was just one
vote short of approval. It is, indeed, difficult to say whether Dashnaktsutyun
had designed that mathematical move or it also came as a surprise to the party.
It was only clear that the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia would
boycott the vote. But in that case the risk of absentees should also have been
clear to Dashnaktsutyun,” the paper writes.
“Zhoghovurd” writes: “Former president Robert Kocharian also accepts that the
government of Nikol Pashinian enjoys popular support and that all this very
soon will be reflected in election results. Kocharian also accepts that a
considerable part of society today is not ready to listen to him. Therefore, in
a situation like that declaring about his responsibility to assume the role of
the opposition leader means going against the opinion of a considerable part of
society… Kocharian hopes that the euphoria among the people will one day
subside and people will start to complain about the current government. But
will the society accept Kocharian as an opposition leader even in that case?”
Lragir.am writes: “Former defense minister Vigen Sargsian has expressed his
surprise at U.S. national security advisor John Bolton’s statement that Armenia
should exercise full sovereignty and be independent in its foreign policies. He
thinks that this is a hint at the need for Armenia to revise its relations with
Russia. Sargsian says he does not remember a case when U.S. partners would
question the strategic alliance between Armenia and Russia. It turns out that
Armenia’s sovereignty and independence is opposed to allied relations with
Russia. In other words, Armenia’s former defense minister admits that in
conditions of a strategic alliance with Russia one can speak about Armenia’s
sovereignty only with reservations.”
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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