Armenia will have a new prime minister on May 8, says ruling RPA

PanARMENIAN.Net - A number of lawmakers from the ruling Republican Party of Armenia have been urged to vote for Nikol Pashinyan when the parliament discussed the issue of electing a new prime minister on Tuesday, May 5, RPA spokesman Eduard Sharmazanov told reporters on Monday.

“As a party, we remain true to our principled opinion,” Sharmazanov said after an RPA Executive Body meeting.

“At the same time, we are going to support Pashinyan tomorrow, the RPA will provide a relevant number of votes so that Armenia has a prime minister on May 8.”

According to him, they have already urged certain Members of Parliament to vote in favor of Pashinyan’s bid.

A campaign against the Armenian authorities was in full swing across Yerevan and the rest of the republic for several weeks and got even stronger after the parliament failed to elect opposition leader 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 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 May 3 after the ruling Republican party of Armenia pledged to support Pashinyan’s candidacy.