Pashinyan intends to bring Armenia to a standstill

Armenian protest leader Nikol Pashinyan was blocked in parliament, now his supporters want to block the whole country.

By Tom Winter Last updated May 3, 2018

Armenian opposition takes to the streets

German RT presents the latest from Armenia:

The parliamentary defeat of opposition politician Nikol Pashinyan continues to incite the protest movement in Armenia. Now central streets in the former Soviet republic are to be blocked. The capital Yerevan is already paralyzed according to media reports.

Armenian protest leader Nikol Pashinyan was blocked in parliament, now his supporters want to block the whole country. After his election defeat in the House of Representatives in Yerevan, Pashinyan called on his supporters to go back to the streets on Wednesday.

Roads and motorways in the former Soviet republic are to be blocked from the early morning, also the airports and the train routes. “We will start tomorrow with new actions of civil disobedience, with renewed vigor” said Pashinyan on Tuesday evening in front of his followers. “Our fight can not end in failure.”

According to local media reports, on Wednesday morning the demonstrators have already paralyzed the main streets of the capital Yerevan. The subway is also stopped. According to reports, the staff of Yerevan airport also joined the strike.
The “candidate of the people” failed in parliament at the votes of the ruling party. The opposition leader Pashinyan had put himself forward to be the head of state on Tuesday in the parliament, but only 45 MPs voted for him. The 42-year-old would have needed 53 of the 105 votes. According to the constitution, the parliament must now re-vote within a week. Without a winner, there will have to be new elections. Already during the poll, tens of thousands of people had peacefully gathered in front of parliament.

Pashinyan, who calls himself the “candidate of the people”, was the only candidate for the post. However, the ruling Republican Party, which dominates parliament, refused to approve. Without the votes of this party, no new head of government can be elected.

Pashinyan had mobilized tens of thousands of supporters in recent weeks and forced Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan to resign. The opposition speaks of a “velvet revolution.” The protests had erupted because Sargsyan was elected prime minister after ten years as president. The protesters accuse Sargsyan and his Republican party of being responsible for corruption and poverty in the 2.9 million-strong country in the South Caucasus.

In foreign policy, Pashinyan maintains cooperation with both Russia and the EU, as he emphasized in the debate. Against the hostile neighbor Azerbaijan, he has announced a tough course in the conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh area.

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