“The word ‘split’ is not appropriate at all,” Artsvik Minasian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “A split could have occurred if members of our parliamentary group had left it while keeping their parliament seats.”
Minasian insisted that there are only “tactical differences” within the alliance headed by former President Robert Kocharian.
The three lawmakers lead the Resurgent Armenia party affiliated with Hayastan. Announcing their resignation from the National Assembly on Tuesday, the party said that Hayastan and another opposition bloc, Pativ Unem, should have continued to boycott parliament sessions as part of their efforts oust Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
It warned that Resurgent Armenia members willing to take up the vacant parliament seats will be ousted from the party. At the same time the party stopped short of announcing its exit from Hayastan.
The 35 opposition members of the 107-seat parliament began the boycott in April in advance of daily opposition demonstrations demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s resignation. The protests essentially fizzled out in June.
Minasian acknowledged that many opposition members and supporters are disappointed with the failure of the campaign.
“Of course we all wanted to quickly change the government and form a government of national unity that would get the country out of this situation,” he said, adding that the opposition will continue to fight for regime change.