Ben Aris
The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) conceded that the
“monopolisation of power was a mistake” as street protests were halted
on April 30 to allow for negotiations ahead of the May 1 vote to choose
an interim prime minister.
MP and de facto leader of the opposition Nikol Pashinian has been
touring the country in the last few days, holding rallies in regional
cities to keep the pressure up on the HHK that controls parliament. The
protesters’ ‘Armenian Velvet Revolution’ movement now seems very close
to taking power having forced Serzh Sargsyan to resign from the post of prime minister on April 23.
He had been in power for over a decade, having served twice as
president before moving to the office of prime minister which had been
beefed up with crucial powers under a process to turn Armenia into a
parliamentary republic.
