YEREVAN. – Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was not elected Prime Minister at Wednesday’s special session of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia.

No MP voted for his respective candidacy, eleven lawmakers voted against it, and one legislator abstained.

On October 16, Nikol Pashinyan had resigned from the office of Prime Minister of Armenia.

Under the constitution, the NA factions may nominate PM candidates within seven days after the Prime Minister’s resignation. And on the eight day, an election for a new PM shall take place at a special NA session.

As reported earlier, the “Way Out” (Yelk) Faction had nominated acting PM Nikol Pashinyan’s candidacy to this office, whereas the other factions had nominated no candidates.

But at the same time, Yelk had asked all MPs not to vote for Pashinyan so that the parliament can be dissolved a week later—on October 31, when a PM is not elected yet again. In case of such a scenario, a snap parliamentary election will be conducted in the first half of December.

But if the legislature elects Pashinyan Prime Minister, the NA dissolution will come out of the agenda, or at least be put off.