16:31, 3 May, 2021

YEREVAN, MAY 3, ARMENPRESS. The second and final round of voting to elect a prime minister will be held on May 10, Speaker of Parliament Ararat Mirozyan said in a statement.

During the first round of vote, parliament voted down caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in order to trigger early elections. 

Pashinyan, the only candidate in the voting nominated by the ruling My Step bloc – received 1 vote in favor, 3 against and 75 voted present. His nomination and failure to get elected was a formality in a maneuver for disbanding the parliament. 

Earlier the ruling bloc announced they’d all vote present as agreed before.

The Prosperous Armenia BHK opposition party boycotted the special session and the voting.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan resigned on April 25 to trigger the snap election of parliament.

The entire Cabinet also resigned. Holding early elections requires the dissolution of parliament, which in turn can happen when the legislature twice fails to elect a prime minister after the incumbent steps down. Pashinyan said during his resignation that his bloc will formally nominate and subsequently vote him down during both votings in order to maintain the technical requirements to disband the legislature.

Pashinyan had earlier announced that he and his party will again run for parliament in the snap election. 

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan