Pashinyan: Armenian protests have no geopolitical context

The opposition bloc announced Wednesday it would name Pashinian, who led the anti-Sargsyan protests over the past two weeks, as its candidate for prime minister.

But the ruling party has a majority of seats in parliament and Pashinyan does not have enough support from lawmakers to get elected.

On Monday, Sargsyan resigned amid large-scale anti-government protests. The nomination was largely regarded as an attempt to stay in power after Sargsyan had served two terms as the country’s president since the newly amended constitution transferred some of the presidential powers to the head of the government. The people of Armenia have forcefully declared their desire for honest government and a decent chance at economic opportunity.

Armenia’s parliament on Thursday set May 1 as the date to elect a prime minister in a bid to defuse rapidly escalating tensions as top officials held talks in Moscow. The talks were supposed to discuss that transition.

Supporters of Armenian opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan attend a rally against the ruling elite in Yerevan, Armenia April 25, 2018.

About 5,000 people marched in the center of the capital, Yerevan, blocking traffic and chanting “Join us!” When the protest leaders in Armenia were taken into custody, the leaderless protests swelled in numbers and continued. “It is only about Yerevan”, as the blocked streets create a lot of inconvenience to residents.

“Authorities won’t step down, they are just dragging their feet”, said 24-year-old protester Garik Migranyan. “We’re not going to make any sharp geopolitical movements”.

“Pashinyan has the people’s trust”.

Acting prime minister Karen Karapetyan who has said he would be ready to declare a state of emergency if needed, is now under pressure to deliver on promised elections.

“For now we see that the situation is not unfolding in a destabilizing way which is a cause for satisfaction”, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the day after Sargsyan stepped down.

He vowed that no secret talks would take place and that “no deal can be struck behind the people’s back”. The elections were won by the Republican Party of Armenia. But protesters consider the whole government tainted by his drive to shift power to the premier from the president. It said the situation would be discussed during a meeting of party leaders on April 27.

Russian Federation is Armenia’s closest ally and security guarantor, maintaining a large military base in Armenia and providing substantial military aid.