With hundreds of thousands of people gathered at Republic Square beginning early morning hours on Tuesday, Armenia’s National Assembly convened an extraordinary session at noon to elect a new prime minister, for which opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan was the only candidate who after a dramatic almost 10-hour session did not receive the majority of votes to occupy that position.
In the end, with businessman Gagik Tsarukian’s alliance’s 29 votes,
the Yelk factions nine votes and six votes from the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation, Pashinyan received only 45 of the 53 votes
needed to secure the prime ministership. The Republican Party of Armenia
announced that its lawmakers would not support his candidacy. Only one
Republican member, Feliks Tsolakyan, broke ranks with his party and voted
for him.
Two members of the Tsarukian alliance did not attend the parliament
session, with one Republican Party of Armenia member, Grigor Avalyan,
announcing his resignation from parliament ahead of Tuesday’s session.
The National Assembly has seven days to convene another vote, which
by all estimation will take place on Tuesday. If on that day the
legislature fails to elect a prime minister, the parliament would have
to organize snap parliamentary elections, under the Republican Party of
Armenia’s leadership.
