Armenian parliament votes against lifting martial law imposed over hostilities in Karabakh

The Armenian parliament on Thursday, November 26 rejected the initiative to lift the martial law in the country, which was imposed on September 27 after fighting with Azerbaijan broke out in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. The lifting of the martial law was opposed by the ruling faction of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. It received only 36 votes in favour, while 56 voted against it. Earlier on November 26, protesters had gathered outside the Armenian parliament demanding the revocation of the martial law. 

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The lifting of the martial law would have given the opposition forces a chance to initiate the resignation process against Pashinyan, who is facing a lot of criticism after Armenia ceded territories to Azerbaijan in the Russia-brokered peace agreement that stopped the month-long fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh. Pashinyan oversaw the return of thousands of families from the ceded territories, who burned their homes before leaving. This sparked a massive uproar in the country with people taking to the streets demanding Pashinyan to step down. 

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Russia worried

The Armenian Prime Minister has said he does not plan to step down and has insisted on continuing despite the president of the country also calling for his resignation. However, the calls for resignation in Yerevan have worried Russia, who fear that the new government would back-out of the deal signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan under its umberella.

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Armenia and Azerbaijan were involved in an all-out war since September 27 after skirmishes between both sides, that were going on since July, turned hostile. The fighting lasted for over a month before a Moscow-brokered peace deal came into force on November 10, which not only ended the fight but also allowed Russian peacekeepers to be deployed in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

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