YEREVAN. – If the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) or the parliament vote in favor of Acting PM and RPA Vice Chairman Karen Karapetyan, the current political crisis will continue in the country. 

Nikol Pashinyan, opposition Civil Contract Party Political Council member and National Assembly “Way Out” (Yelk) Faction head, noted about the abovementioned at a press conference on Friday.

In his words, the RPA has showed that it cannot conduct free and fair elections.

“We must have guarantees that the expected snap elections will be truly free and fair,” Pashinyan stated. “If the RPA organizes the elections, the crisis will not be resolved from that. We need to resolve—not deepen—the crisis, whereas the RPA deepens it; this is our difference.”

Also, Pashinyan stressed that the people are his hope.

“I place hope on the people’s stance,” he said. “If there is widespread pressure by the people, the RPA shall take that reality into account.”

And when asked whether there are RPA MPs who stand ready to vote for him during the next PM’s election at parliament on May 1, Nikol Pashinyan responded as follows, in particular: “If there are no names, then there are no joiners because for me politics is a public process.”

After 11-day nationwide protest actions by the Pashinyan-led movement, ex-President and RPA leader Serzh Sargsyan on Monday resigned from his recently-elected post of Prime Minister.

Subsequently, Pashinyan announced that they will continue negotiations with the incumbent authorities on Wednesday, and toward achieving a smooth transfer of power in Armenia. But it became clear on Tuesday evening that this talk would not take place.  

Acting PM and RPA Vice Chairman Karen Karapetyan stated that Pashinyan had posited new, unilateral demands.

Nikol Pashinyan, in turn, announced that they are resuming their protests as of Wednesday, since the RPA wants to retain power at the expense of Sargsyan’s resignation.

And on Thursday, Pashinyan invited Karapetyan to start the second round of negotiations on Friday, and before the media.

But Aram Araratyan, the spokesperson of Karen Karapetyan, on Friday issued a statement, according to which the acting PM considers “negotiations” with Nikol Pashinyan viewless, and therefore he refused to take part.

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