Thursday, 26 April, 2018
Armenia will elect a new prime minister next week to succeed Serzh Sarkisian, who quit on Monday after days of opposition protests.
Opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan, who led the rallies, appears to be the favorite to win the vote, which will take place at an extraordinary parliament session on May 1.
The demonstrations, driven by public anger over perceived political cronyism and corruption, looked to have peaked on Monday when Sarkisian stepped down.
But demonstrators have made clear they view the whole system tainted by his drive to shift power to the premier from the president. They want a sweeping political reconfiguration before ending their protests, which continued on Thursday.
"Protests will grow throughout Armenia until authorities can hear us," Pashinyan said.
Pashinyan, a former journalist turned lawmaker who has been instrumental in organizing the protests, has said he is ready to become prime minister. Tens of thousands rallied in the capital Yerevan on Wednesday in support for his bid for the premiership.
If elected, he wants to reform the electoral system to ensure it is fair before holding new parliamentary elections.
Sarkisian’s party still holds a majority in the parliament, however.
“We will have a people’s prime minister and after the election a people’s government and parliament,” said Anna Agababyan, a 38-year-old teacher who was protesting in Yerevan on Thursday, holding a small national flag.
Although the demonstrations have been peaceful, the upheaval has threatened to destabilize Armenia, an ally of Russia, in a volatile region riven by its decades-long, low-level conflict with neighboring Azerbaijan.
Moscow has two military bases in the ex-Soviet republic, and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to Armenian President Armen Sarkissian by phone on Wednesday.
They agreed that political forces must show restraint and solve the crisis through dialogue, the Kremlin said.
Pashinyan said on Wednesday he had received assurances from Russian officials that Moscow would not intervene in the crisis, and Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian was in Moscow on Thursday for talks.
Armen Sarkissian, the president, on Thursday hailed what he called “a new page” in Armenia’s history and called on lawmakers to help forge a new country while respecting the existing constitution.
Pashinyan and his allies have been busy trying to build support for him with the ruling Republican Party and other parties and Pashinyan is expected to hold talks with Gagik Tsarukyan, the leader of the second-biggest party in parliament, later on Thursday.
Source: Asharq al-Awsat.
Link: https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1250061/armenia-elect-new-prime-minister-may-1.
Armenia will elect a new prime minister next week to succeed Serzh Sarkisian, who quit on Monday after days of opposition protests.
Opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan, who led the rallies, appears to be the favorite to win the vote, which will take place at an extraordinary parliament session on May 1.
The demonstrations, driven by public anger over perceived political cronyism and corruption, looked to have peaked on Monday when Sarkisian stepped down.
But demonstrators have made clear they view the whole system tainted by his drive to shift power to the premier from the president. They want a sweeping political reconfiguration before ending their protests, which continued on Thursday.
"Protests will grow throughout Armenia until authorities can hear us," Pashinyan said.
Pashinyan, a former journalist turned lawmaker who has been instrumental in organizing the protests, has said he is ready to become prime minister. Tens of thousands rallied in the capital Yerevan on Wednesday in support for his bid for the premiership.
If elected, he wants to reform the electoral system to ensure it is fair before holding new parliamentary elections.
Sarkisian’s party still holds a majority in the parliament, however.
“We will have a people’s prime minister and after the election a people’s government and parliament,” said Anna Agababyan, a 38-year-old teacher who was protesting in Yerevan on Thursday, holding a small national flag.
Although the demonstrations have been peaceful, the upheaval has threatened to destabilize Armenia, an ally of Russia, in a volatile region riven by its decades-long, low-level conflict with neighboring Azerbaijan.
Moscow has two military bases in the ex-Soviet republic, and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to Armenian President Armen Sarkissian by phone on Wednesday.
They agreed that political forces must show restraint and solve the crisis through dialogue, the Kremlin said.
Pashinyan said on Wednesday he had received assurances from Russian officials that Moscow would not intervene in the crisis, and Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian was in Moscow on Thursday for talks.
Armen Sarkissian, the president, on Thursday hailed what he called “a new page” in Armenia’s history and called on lawmakers to help forge a new country while respecting the existing constitution.
Pashinyan and his allies have been busy trying to build support for him with the ruling Republican Party and other parties and Pashinyan is expected to hold talks with Gagik Tsarukyan, the leader of the second-biggest party in parliament, later on Thursday.
Source: Asharq al-Awsat.
Link: https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1250061/armenia-elect-new-prime-minister-may-1.
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