Nikol Pashinyan - New Prime Minister of Armenia (updated)

Yerevan / 08.05.18 / Turan: At 13:30 Baku time, the Armenian parliament elected Nikol Pashinyan as the Prime Minister of Armenia.

For his candidacy, 58 MPs voted, and 42 were against.

In his speech before the MPs, Pashinyan spoke about his vision of the problems of the country and ways to resolve them. Touching upon the topic of Karabakh, he said he is ready for talks with Azerbaijan to resolve this issue.

About 100,000 supporters of Pashinyan have gathered in the square in front of the parliament and are celebrating his victory. -02B-

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2018 May 08 (Tuesday) 10:37:10

Elections of Prime Minister to Be Held in Armenia

Yerevan / 08.05.18 / Turan: Today the Armenian parliament will vote on the candidacy of Nikol Pashinyan for the post of Prime Minister.

A week ago, the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) blocked the election of the leader of the protest movement. Earlier, the RPA leader Serzh Sargsyan left the post of Prime Minister under the pressure of the people.

The refusal to support Pashinyan's candidacy sparked new protests in Armenia, after which the RPA agreed to support his election as head of government. To make this happen, 53 MPs out of the 105 should vote for Pashinyan.

During the voting on May 1, 45 MPs voted for his candidacy, and 56 MPs representing the RPA faction opposed.

It should be noted that the head of the parliamentary faction Elk (Exodus) Nikol Pashinyan is the only candidate for the post of Prime Minister. If the Parliament of Armenia fails to elect the Prime Minister today, the Parliament will be dissolved and early parliamentary elections scheduled.

Under such a scenario, the RPA will retain control over the executive power for the time of elections, which the opposition does not agree with.

While the Parliament of Armenia will decide the question of the future Premier, tens of thousands of citizens are planning to gather on the Republic Square in the center of Yerevan again. -02D-