ARF expels party member who voted against Armenia PM candidate

PanARMENIAN.Net - Former lawmaker from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Aghvan Vardanyan who voted against Nikol Pashinyan, the only candidate for prime minister on Tuesday, May 2, has been expelled from the party, the ARF said in a statement on Friday, May 4.

Vardanyan was the only member of parliament from the ARF who defied party decision and voted against Pashinyan, who, in turn, needed more than half of all the votes - the support of at least 53 lawmakers - to secure the prime minister’s spot, but got only 45.

Vardanyan had earlier resigned from his parliamentary post.

A campaign against the Armenian authorities was in full swing across Yerevan and the rest of the republic on Wednesday after the parliament failed to elect opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan as the country's new prime minister on Tuesday.

The founder and head of Civil Contract party and lawmaker from the Yelk bloc, Pashinyan leads the street campaign against the ruling authorities, which has seen thousands of Armenians taking to the streets in massive protests in the past several weeks.

Former prime minister Serzh Sargsyan was forced to resign on April 23, and Pashinyan is now seeking the appointment as prime minister by the National Assembly of what he calls “the people’s candidate”, - i.e. himself - the formation of an interim government and snap parliamentary elections.

Pashinyan has promised to rid Armenia of corruption and poverty.

Demonstrations have been halted since Thursday after the ruling Republican party of Armenia pledged to support Pashinyan’s candidacy.

Vardanyan is a former member of the ARF Supreme Council of Armenia. He is a former member of the ARF Bureau and the former editor of Armenia’s Yerkir Daily and the ARF’s Droshak organ. He was first elected to Armenia’s Parliament in 1999, and has served as the head of the ARF Parliamentary faction. In 2003, he was appointed and served as the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia.