Galstanian reiterated those demands as he addressed the protesters in the city’s central Republic Square in the evening. He charged that Pashinian lost legitimacy after deciding to hand over several disputed border areas to Azerbaijan. He pointed out that the premier had pledged not to make such concessions in the run-up to the last general elections held in 2021.
Accordingly, the outspoken cleric wearing an unusual white priest robe vowed to continue campaigning for Pashinian’s removal from power. At the same time, he urged supporters to demonstrate “patience” and brace themselves for sustained street protests that could last longer than many of them expected.
“We will be moving forward step by step,” he said. “We won’t get tired.”
Galstanian scheduled the next Republic Square rally for Sunday. In the meantime, he said, he will meet with opposition leaders as well as retired diplomats and security officials supporting his movement to discuss “organizational issues.”
Earlier in the day, a smaller number of protesters led by Galstanian marched to Armenia’s main state-run universities to again urge their students and faculties to boycott classes and join the protests.
Although there were no indications of a widespread boycott of classes, some students appeared to join the march. A group of them staged a separate protest at the Yerevan State University (YSU) campus. A trade union of YSU employees issued a statement backing the boycott and warning the university administration against reprisals.
“We must continue our civil disobedience actions,” Galstanian told reporters. “We cannot retreat and back down in any way.”
Galstanian and antigovernment activists accompanying him attracted a massive crowd to Republic Square on Thursday when they reached Yerevan following a five-day march that began in Kirants, one of the villages in the northern Tavush province adjacent to the border areas which Pashinian’s government wants to cede to Azerbaijan. Galstanian for the first time demanded Pashinian’s resignation during that rally. The two opposition groups represented in the Armenian parliament were quick to assure him to that they will try to initiate a parliamentary vote of no confidence in the prime minister.
“The impeachment process is under discussion,” Gegham Manukian of the opposition Hayastan alliance told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “Legal and technical issues will be clarified later.”
Hayastan and the other parliamentary opposition force, Pativ Unem, hold only 35 of the parliament’s 107 seats. Virtually all other seats are controlled by Pashinian’s Civil Contract party. The opposition lacks a single vote to put a formal motion of censure and thus force a parliamentary debate on the issue.
Senior lawmakers representing Civil Contract insisted on Friday that neither they nor any of their pro-government colleagues will break ranks to vote against Pashinian. One of them, Gagik Melkonian, suggested that Pashinian could bow to the pressure only if at least 400,000 people take to the streets to demand his resignation.
Another Civil Contract lawmaker, Artur Hovannisian, claimed that the ongoing antigovernment protests are coordinated by the Armenian Apostolic Church and former Presidents Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sarkisian, who lead Hayastan and Pativ Unem respectively. He said they are trying to “stage a coup by undemocratic means.”
The Armenian constitution also stipulates that parliament factions demanding a no-confidence vote must nominate a candidate for the post of prime minister. Opposition leaders insisted that they have not yet discussed any such nominees with Galstanian. The latter was coy about the extraordinary possibility of his own candidacy when he spoke to journalists throughout the day.
Significantly, Galstanian confirmed reports that he holds not only Armenian but also Canadian citizenship. The constitution bars dual citizens from serving as prime minister.
Galstanian, who lived in Canada from 2003-2013 and now heads the church’s Tavush Diocese, has faced scathing attacks from Pashinian’s political allies ever since the outbreak of the protests against the territorial concessions to Baku on April 20. During an April 30 session of the National Assembly, Civil Contract deputies branded him a Russian spy, accused him of provoking another war with Azerbaijan and even called on Armenian border guards to forcibly draft the 52-year-old archbishop.