Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian met with parliamentary leaders of former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) on Wednesday one day after it effectively pledged not to derail his plans to force snap general elections in December.
Pashinian praised the HHK move as “reasonable” after meeting with parliament speaker Ara Babloyan in the National Assembly building in Yerevan.
“The purpose of my visit is to resolve this political situation in an atmosphere of utter stability and calm,” he told reporters. “After yesterday’s statement by the Republican Party I found it necessary to come here today.”
In that statement, the HHK’s parliamentary faction said it “did not and does not have an intention to nominate a candidate” for the post of prime minister if Pashinian steps down this month for tactical reasons. But it said it continues to believe that the polls must be held in May or June next year.
Under the Armenian constitution, the National Assembly can be dissolved only if the prime minister resigns and lawmakers fail to replace him or her within two weeks.
Pashinian, who also held talks with HHK faction leader Vahram Baghdasarian, reaffirmed his declared plans to tender his resignation this month. But he again decline to give any dates for the resignation. “It’s a matter of some calculation,” he said.
The popular premier also warned the HHK’s potential decision to nominate or endorse another prime-ministerial candidate would amount to an “attempt to destabilize situation in country.” “I am glad that people correctly assessed the situation,” he said of the HHK statement.
The statement came after at least ten lawmakers representing Sarkisian’s party broke ranks to call for holding the elections before the end of this year. The HHK’s deputy chairman, Armen Ashotian, claimed that at least some of them did so as result of government pressure and even intimidation.
Pashinian denied that, saying that the HHK dissenters simply “listened to the voice of the people.”
Pashinian reacted furiously when the HHK hastily pushed through the parliament late on October 2 a bill that called into question the success of his plans.
The bill was also backed by the Prosperous Armenia (BHK) and Dashnaktsutyun parties that were represented in the current government at that point. Pashinian publicly fired the six government ministers affiliated with those parties as thousands of his supporters rallied outside the parliament building on that night.
The BHK dropped its objections to the December elections a few days later. The party led by businessman Gagik Tsarukian controls 31 seats in the current 105-member parliament, compared with 50 seats held by the HHK.
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