Armenia: Pashinyan not elected as Prime Minister

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia's acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was not reelected in the post at a special session of the National Assembly on Monday, May 3. The parliament is expected to fail to elect a head of government for a second time to pave the way for snap elections in June.

On Monday, one lawmaker voted in favor, three voted against, with 75 abstentions. Before the vote, head of the ruling My Step bloc Lilit Makunts said they would abstain, while the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party did not participate in the session at all.

No other candidates were nominated in the post, as expected.

Pashinyan announced on March 18 that Armenia will hold snap parliamentary elections on June 20. The PM came under fire after signing a statement with the Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents to end the war in Nagorno-Karabakh almost 45 days after the start of the military hostilities. Under the deal, the Armenian side was forced to return all the seven regions surrounding Karabakh, having lost a part of Karabakh itself in hostilities.