Hundreds of supporters of Armenia’s opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan are gathering on Republic Square in downtown Yerevan ahead of the parliament’s election of the new prime minister on Tuesday.
Addressing the crowd on the square, a spokesman for the opposition’s party Civil Contract Tigran Avinyan said the Republican Party of Armenia sought to disrupt the voting. "We will stay here and wait for the instructions of Nikol Pashinyan," TASS cited him as saying.
However, a spokesman for the Republican Party, Eduard Sharmazanov said earlier that should three opposition’s factions support Pashinyan’s nomination the RPA would not stonewall the election.
However, the Armenian opposition leader, a lawmaker with the Yelk faction, is the only candidate for the prime minister, he still lacks six votes to ensure a simple majority in the election. The Republican Party, which has 58 out of 105 seats in the parliament, has not announced its plans on the upcoming voting.
Several days before the election, Pashinyan had called on his supporters to gather outside the parliament early in the morning. He later changed his mind inviting the supporters to gather on Republic Square at 11 a.m. local time (10 a.m. Moscow Time).
The parliament is scheduled to elect the prime minister at noon (11.00 a.m. Moscow Time) on May 1. Three parliamentary factions - the Tsarukyan bloc, Dashnaktsutyun and Yelk - have already announced they would vote for Pashinyan. The Republican Party has not nominated its candidate.
