The dead body of Armenian army conscript Artur Gasparyan (born in 1998) was found on Friday at around 1:10am.

The soldier was found dead at the combat position of the protection area of a military unit, and with a gunshot wound on his head. An investigation is underway to find out the circumstances behind this incident.

The Republican Party of Armenia has a consolidated decision, and Armenia will have a Prime Minister on May 8, head of RPA faction Vahram Baghdasaryan told reporters on Friday.

Baghdasaryan said his faction did not interfere during the previous vote, but now they are supporting the candidate.

On May 8 the parliament will elect a PM for the second time. If they fail, the president will be forced to dissolve the parliament and appoint early elections in 30-45 days. 

The Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) would consider itself the opposition despite retaining a majority of lawmakers in parliament, deputy head of RPA Armen Ashotyan told Associated Press.

“In my personal opinion, there is no way of any cooperation with new political forces,” he said. “We will not be part of this government.”

Ashotyan said if the streets stay calm as agreed, the RPA will assist the election of Pashinyan.

Russia is focused on strengthening allied cooperation with Armenia, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told reporters.

“We have stated on numerous occasions said that we expect that all current internal problems in fraternal Armenia will be resolved on the basis of the country’s Constitution, within the legal framework and through constructive dialogue between various political forces in the republic,” she said.

The Supreme Body of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Party of Armenia informed that, after examining the disciplinary matter regarding Aghvan Vardanyan, it has decided to expel him from the party ranks.

Earlier Vardanyan announced his decision to quit as MP.

The American dollar’s exchange rate against the Armenian dram comprised AMD 484.75/$1 in Armenia on Friday; this is up by AMD 0.04 from Thursday.

The exchange rate for one euro was AMD 579.81 (down by AMD 1.36).