Author: Alex Jidarian

                                        Thursday, 

Armenian Protest Leader Reassured By Parliament Majority

        • Emil Danielyan

Armenia - Supporters of opposition leader Nikol Pashinian demosntrate in 
Yerevan's Republic Square, 2 May 2018.

Opposition leader Nikol Pashinian said on Thursday he has received fresh 
assurances that Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK) will not prevent the 
parliament from choosing him as Armenia’s prime minister next week.

Pashinian appealed to Armenians shortly after holding what he called an 
“important” meeting with the HHK’s parliamentary leader, Vahram Baghdasarian.

“He reaffirmed that the HHK faction in the National Assembly will assist the 
people’s candidate in getting elected prime minister,” he said in a video 
message posted on Facebook.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the HHK faction promised to “help the 
candidate to be nominated by one-third of the parliament to become prime 
minister” at a session of the National Assembly slated for May 8.

Pashinian said in that regard that more one-third of the parliament’s 105 
members have already formally backed his bid for power. “We have already 
collected the necessary number of signatures … and we consider my nomination a 
fait accompli,” said Pashinian.

The signatures are understood to have come from deputies representing 
Pashinian’s Yelk bloc, another opposition alliance led by businessman Gagik 
Tsarukian, and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun). 
Tsarukian made clear on Wednesday that his bloc, which controls 31 parliament 
seats, will continue to support Pashinian.


Armenia - A protest in Republic Square in Yerevan, 2 May 2018.
The parliament voted by 56 to 45 against Pashinian’s premiership bid following 
a long and heated debate on Tuesday. The 42-year-old oppositionist, who has 
triggered an unprecedented protest movement in the country, responded by urging 
supporters to resume their peaceful protests. Tens of thousands of them blocked 
streets and roads across the country on Wednesday.

Pashinian told supporters to again gather in Yerevan’s Republic Square on May 
8. In the meantime, he said, he “will stay in touch” with them because “we must 
be able to very quickly react to any possible change of the political 
situation.”

Pashinian also said: “You have dubbed our revolution a revolution of love and 
tolerance, and I hope that we will stick to that principle regardless of the 
political situation. Our aim is to establish national unity and solidarity. We 
must rule out any propaganda of hatred, an atmosphere of hatred.”

It was an apparent reference to a litany of abusive comments and messages 
directed, mainly through social media, at senior HHK figures in recent days. 
Several HHK lawmakers have closed their Facebook pages as a result. Some of 
them claim to have also received threats of violence.




Russia Hopes Ties With Armenia Will Stay Unchanged


RUSSIA -- A view of Kremlin' Grand Kremlin Palace, center, Towers, Churches and 
frozen Moskva (Moscow) river in Moscow, February 14, 2018

Russia hopes that its close relationship with Armenia will remain unchanged 
after the grave political crisis in the South Caucasus state is resolved, a 
spokesman for President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

“We still hope that all processes in Armenia will remain within the 
constitutional and legal frames,” Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “We wish our 
Armenian friends a maximally quick settlement of the existing political 
situation.”

“We also hope that in any case the allied, warm and constructive 
Russian-Armenian relations will remain a constant for both the foreign policy 
of our country and the foreign policy of Yerevan,” he said, according to 
Russian news agencies.

Peskov implied that Moscow is prepared for any outcome of the upcoming election 
by the Armenian parliament of the country’s new prime minister.

For its part, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that it is continuing to 
“closely follow” the dramatic developments in Armenia. In a statement, it 
expressed hope that the Armenian crisis will be resolved “as soon as possible” 
through a “constructive dialogue of the republic’s political forces.”

Both the ministry and the Kremlin thus remained careful not to publicly take 
sides in the three-week standoff that has led to the resignation of Prime 
Minister Serzh Sarkisian. Opposition leader Nikol Pashinian, who has organized 
the massive anti-government protests across Armenia, is now expected to be 
chosen as prime minister on May 8.

Pashinian has repeatedly stated that he will not pull Armenia out of 
Russian-led defense and trade blocs if he comes to power. He told visiting 
Russian parliamentarians on April 29 that Russian-Armenian ties will only 
deepen further as a result of regime change in Yerevan.

Pashinian has previously harshly criticized Armenia’s membership in the 
Eurasian Economic Union and the Collective Security Treaty Organization. 
Lawmakers from Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK) pointed to this fact during 
Tuesday’s parliament debate on his bid to become prime minister. They 
repeatedly challenged him to explain why he is now making different statements 
on the subject.

“We now have new political realities and must reckon with them,” responded 
Pashinian. A “drastic” change in Armenia foreign policy would only hurt the 
country, he said.




President Hails ‘Democratic Developments’ In Armenia


Armenia - President Armen Sarkissian (L) meets with opposition leader Nikol 
Pashinian in Republic Square in Yerevan, 21 April 2018.

President Armen Sarkissian on Thursday praised the Republican Party (HHK) for 
effectively agreeing to hand over power to opposition leader Nikol Pashinian, 
saying that the move has “brought to a logical conclusion democratic 
developments” in Armenia.

“In this regard, I salute the responsible stance of the democratic movement led 
by Nikol Pashinian, the Republican Party of Armenia, the Prosperous Armenia 
Party, Yelk coalition and the ARF [Dashnaktsutyun] which emanates for the 
primary interests of Armenia and our people and opens the door for national 
accord,” Sarkissian said in a statement.

“With this, our nation has proved once again that at fateful moments we are 
able to unite and make decisions which benefit the entire nation,” he said.

“We are facing challenges, and I am confident that on May 8 in the name of 
reformation the achievements of the pan-national movement will be secured … It 
will further elevate our reputation and standing in the world,” added 
Sarkissian.

The Armenian parliament is scheduled to meet and again try to elect the next 
prime minister on May 8. Leaders of the HHK majority in the National Assembly 
have indicated that Pashinian will garner enough votes to succeed HHK leader 
Serzh Sarkisian as premier.

Armen Sarkissian, who has largely ceremonial powers, stood by his view that the 
dramatic events of the last few weeks have marked the beginning of a “new 
Armenia.” He again paid tribute to young Armenians who have been at the 
forefront of the unprecedented protest movement led by Pashinian.

“I am proud of our nation, I am proud of dignified Armenian citizens, I am 
proud of our unity and solidarity. I am confident and I can see that we have 
already started to create a new Armenia,” concluded the president.




Press Review



“Zhoghovurd” sees clear indications that the political crisis in Armenia is 
nearing a resolution. The paper points out that shortly after meeting former 
President Serzh Sarkisian on Wednesday the parliamentary faction of his 
Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) implied that it will help opposition leader 
Nikol Pashinian get elected prime minister on May 8. “Frankly, many do not 
believe that the HHK will hand over power without a fight,” the paper says, 
warning that the HHK will only spark a renewed wave of protests if it fails to 
honor its pledge.

“Zhamanak” notes that the HHK decided to stop opposing Pashinian’s push for 
power only one day after engineering a parliament vote against his becoming 
prime minister. The paper attributes the quick volte face to the renewed 
anti-government protests staged across Armenia. “But was that enough?” it asks. 
“Did the HHK not expect to generate such an outburst on May 2 when it scuttled 
the parliament vote [for Pashinian’s premiership?]” It also wonders whether the 
Republicans hoped to strike a deal with Gagik Tsarukian and the Armenian 
Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun).

“Hraparak” says that public fury with the HHK and euphoria about its loss of 
power is “understandable” because that party has long lost popular trust. In an 
editorial, the paper at the same time strongly condemns those Pashinian 
supporters have directed insults and even threats at senior HHK figures, 
notably female parliamentarians, in recent days.

“Aravot” says that the outside world must not be left with the impression that 
Serzh Sarkisian and his party have been overthrown violently. “The prime 
minister of the parliamentary majority has resigned because that majority does 
not enjoy public support and in order to solve this problem the parliament is 
electing a minority prime minister and forming a minority government and is 
going to call pre-term elections,” editorializes the paper.

(Tigran Avetisian)


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2018 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org