If Nikol Pashinyan violates the law and signs the decree dismissing Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Onik Gasparyan, based on my information, the army won’t submit to this. This is what Vazgen Manukyan, candidate of the opposition Homeland Salvation Movement for Prime Minister of Armenia, told reporters during today’s rally held by the opposition on Marshal Baghramyan Avenue in Yerevan.

“The army understands that this isn’t a matter of individuals. If Onik Gasparyan quits, he will let Nikol Pashinyan change all army commanders and destroy the army. Another argument is that the army won’t submit, and if it does, this will mean that Armen Sarkissian is crushing the army by signing the decree,” Manukyan said, adding that the army must not submit to unlawful orders.

“The President said he isn’t signing the decree and is forwarding a certain law to the Constitutional Court, but this doesn’t mean that he won’t send something else to the Constitutional Court. He might also send a few documents related to Onik Gasparyan’s issue. I haven’t heard any lawyer say that the decree is constitutional. The Constitution clearly states that the chief of the General Staff is appointed for a certain period and nobody can dismiss the chief in that period if, of course, the chief hasn’t committed a crime. So, it is clear that the decree is unconstitutional,” he said and expressed certainty that Nikol Pashinyan has exerted pressure on the President.