Armenia Cabinet will change, prime minister says

PanARMENIAN.Net - Newly-elected prime minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said on Tuesday, April 8 that changes will be made in the country’s Cabinet.

Asked minutes after his election whether major changes will be made in the government staff, Pashinyan said: “Yes, of course.”

The prime minister, however, did not provide details and names of certain candidates.

The Armenian parliament on Tuesday elected Pashinyan as the country’s new prime minister after weeks of political standoff, a civil campaign against the ruling authorities and massive protests in Yerevan and across the country.

Pashinyan secured a relevant number of votes necessary for getting the job after 59 Armenian lawmakers voted to grant him the PM’s powers.

The movement was in full swing throughout the republic for several weeks and got even stronger after the National Assembly failed to elect Pashinyan as the country's new prime minister on May 1.

The founder and head of Civil Contract party and lawmaker from the Yelk bloc, Pashinyan leads the street campaign, which has seen hundreds of 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 and is still the only candidate running for the PM's post.

Demonstrations have been halted since May 3 after the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) pledged to support Pashinyan’s candidacy.

Yelk and Tsarukyan blocs, as well the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) had pledged to support Pashinyan’s bid, while the RPA had said they would “allocate the necessary number of votes, so that Armenia has a new prime minister on Tuesday.”