YEREVAN. – A total of 27 of the 31 MPs of the “Tsarukyan” Faction have signed the form to nominate—opposition movement leader, Civil Contract Party Political Council member, and National Assembly (NA) “Way Out” (Yelk) Faction head—Nikol Pashinyan as Prime Minister of Armenia.
“Tsarukyan” Faction member Naira Zohrabyan on Thursday told about the above-said to reporters in parliament.
“We have absentees who are abroad,” she added. “But taking into account [the respective] signatures of [the] Yelk and the [Armenian Revolutionary Federation] ARF [Dashnaktsutyun Party [factions], I believe the ‘Tsarukyan’ Faction’s signatures are more than enough to ensure the one-third.”
But Zohrabyan noted that in politics, it is impossible to be sure of something until the end, especially in this case in Armenia. At the same time, however, she expressed the hope that Wednesday’s statement by the NA faction of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) implies that they, too, will support the PM candidate to be nominated by one-third of the total number of MPs.
“I believe any political force should honor its word, its viewpoint,” Naira Zohrabyan added. “We hope there will be no surprises, since either you go against the will of your people, declare war against your people, or another option: you attempt to seek—by consolidation, with a consensus, dialoguing with each other—dignified ways out of the current situation.”
The NA on Tuesday did not endorse—with a vote of 45 for and 56 against—Nikol Pashinyan’s candidacy as Prime Minister. The parliamentary majority faction of the RPA voted against Pashinyan, who was the only candidate.
At the subsequent rally on Tuesday evening, Pashinyan called on his supporters to on Wednesday resume their peaceful and nonviolent campaign of civil disobedience—such as boycotting of school classes, staging of labor strikes, and blocking of streets and the Yerevan subway.
On May 8, a new election for PM will be held at the NA, and for which the respective candidates can be nominated by at least one-third of the total number of MPs—in the 105-seat parliament.
