Armenia PM Nikol Pashinyan calls for early elections to end ongoing crisis

In an attempt to mitigate the escalating political crisis, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has agreed to hold snap elections, if the opposition agreed on certain conditions. Addressing his supporters in the country capital Yerevan, Pashinyan proposed to hold a referendum in October to adopt a new constitution as well as a snap election “under certain conditions” which includes the parliamentary factions promising that they would not elect anyone else as the PM candidate if he orders fresh elections.

On Sunday, March 1, a crowd of Armenian protesters forced their way into a government building in Armenia’s capital Yerevan, as per a report by the RIA news agency. The demonstrators forced their way into the building to demand Armenian Prime Minister quits. The protesters then left the building shortly without violence, however, street protests continued. 

Over the past weeks, thousands of Armenians have participated in rival demonstrations in Yerevan. Anti-government crowds had called for the premier to resign, while Pashinyan managed to rally many supporters behind him on the streets. It is worth noting that Pashinyan has come under tremendous pressure from the people and the establishment after the country had to go on backfoot following its clash with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

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Meanwhile, after Pashinyan had announced the dismissal of the chief of General Staff Onik Gasparyan, President Armen Sargsyan rejected the prime ministerial order to sack him because he considered parts of the decree to be in violation of the constitution. Gasparyan was sacked by the PM after his office released a statement asking the PM and his cabinet to resign. Gasparyan had said that Pashinyan’s government is “not capable” of taking adequate decisions and further denounced attacks by the authorities aimed at discrediting the Armed Forces. 

Pashiyan calls out 'military coup'

Pashinyan, on the other hand, warned of an “attempted military coup” after the country’s armed forces said he and his cabinet must resign. Pashinyan had even urged his supporters to gather in the centre of the  Capital Yerevan and said that he considers the statement of the General Staff of the Armed Forces an attempted military coup. Further, the Armenian PM also told the military to "obey" the people and do their job as he addressed the crowd at Yerevan.

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Image: AP