YEREVAN. – The situation at France Square—in Armenia’s capital city of Yerevan—is calm at this time, the Armenian News-NEWS.am reporter informed from the scene.

Several downtown streets are still blocked with benches.

Some drivers, however, are attempting to pass through these barriers.

As reported earlier, clashes took place on Baghramyan Avenue, between the demonstrators and police, on Monday afternoon.

Opposition Civil Contract Party member and National Assembly (NA) “Way Out” (Yelk) Faction head Nikol Pashinyan, jumped over the barbed wires placed by the police, and other protester followed his lead. 

Police used special means, especially stun grenades, against the demonstrators.

As a result of these clashes, 46 people—including Pashinyan and six police officers—were injured.

On March 31, the Civil Contract Party, led by Nikol Pashinyan, had started a protest march through several towns of Armenia—and whose objective is to prevent the third term in office by ex-President Serzh Sargsyan; but this time as the next likely Prime Minister—and which concluded on April 13, with a rally at Liberty Square in downtown Yerevan, and then with a round-the-clock sit-in at France Square.

Also, the protesters had announced that they plan to block the NA building as well as the houses of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) MPs on Tuesday, so as not to enable them to take part in the next PM’s election at the special parliamentary session on that day, and during which the RPA will nominate Sargsyan as candidate for the next PM.