Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Monday that he has not yet decided when to step down and thus pave the way for snap parliamentary elections sought by him and his supporters.
He insisted only that that the elections must be held in December.
Under Armenia’s constitution, such a vote can be called only if the prime minister resigns and lawmakers fail to elect his or her successor in the next two weeks.
Pashinian pledged to tender his resignation “in the coming days” when thousands of his supporters rallied outside the parliament building in Yerevan on October 2. They protested against a controversial bill that could complicate the dissolution of the National Assembly.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Pashinian was asked whether he has already made a decision on his resignation. “No, I haven’t” he replied. “If it was just up to me I would have already resigned. But since the public’s reaction is very vehement we need to once again think about that scenario.”
“But the pre-term elections must be held in December,” added the premier.
Former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), which controls nearly half of the parliament seats, made clear, meanwhile, that it remains opposed to the holding of the elections in December. The HHK’s parliamentary leader, Vahram Baghdasarian, said he can only “guarantee” that it will not nominate or back another prime-ministerial candidate if Pashinian agrees to delay the vote until next May or April.
Baghdasarian also indicated that the former ruling party is open to compromise deals with the popular premier. “We are inclined to resume the negotiation process from where it stopped … And a negotiation means consensus, it means mutual concessions,” he told a news conference.
The HHK’s stance on the election issue was backed until the end of last week by the second largest parliamentary force, the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK). The latter also said that political forces should have more time to prepare for the vote and amend the Electoral Code.
But late on Thursday the BHK leader, Gagik Tsarukian, signaled his readiness to accept Pashinian’s demands. “If the people want the pre-term parliamentary elections to be held in December then so do we,” he said in televised remarks.
Pashinian praised those remarks. He revealed that he and Tsarukian reached a “common understanding” at a meeting held on Sunday. He said that they will meet again later on Monday.
Facebook Forum