Armenian PM resigns after thousands of protests

Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan resigned. The participants of the many thousands demonstrations in Yerevan during the last days demanded his departure.

Photo: TASS

According to Air force, TASS and Interfax report on Sargsyan’s statement referring to the prime minister’s press service.

In his address, Sargsyan, who took over the post of prime minister last week, and before that twice elected president, recognized the correctness of the opposition led by Armenian MP Nikol Pashinyan, who opposed his appointment as head of government.

“Nikol Pashinyan was right. I was wrong,” the statement said.

“The current situation has several solutions, but I will not agree to any of them. That's not mine. I am leaving the post of head of the country, the post of prime minister,” the agency quotes Sargsyan as saying.

Last week, the leader of the protesters Pashinyan объявил about the beginning of the peaceful “velvet” revolution in Armenia.

The speeches in Yerevan were accompanied by numerous detentions. Every day, the police detained dozens of people.

Photo: news.am

On Sunday, April 22, Pashinyan himself and two other opposition deputies, who opposed the election of former President Sargsyan as prime minister, were detained. This happened after the broken talks with Pashinyan, to which Sargsyan agreed.

Their conversation at the beginning of the meeting received a great response - largely due to the form in which the leader of the street protests and the de facto head of state spoke (according to the updated constitution, the prime minister has more powers than the president).

Photo: news.am

When Sargsyan thanked his fierce critic for agreeing to start a dialogue, Pashinyan corrected him, saying: “This is not about dialogue, but about our agenda. “I came here to discuss the terms of your resignation and a peaceful transfer of power without upheaval.”

“Then these are not negotiations, this is not a dialogue, this is blackmail of the state, of the legitimate government,” the prime minister was indignant.

“You don’t imagine the situation in the country. They don't report to you. She has changed. You don't have the power you are told. Power has passed to the people,” Pashinyan said at the meeting. The prime minister, in turn, objected: a deputy whose party gained only 7-8% in the parliamentary elections cannot speak on behalf of the people.

Sargsyan left the meeting held at the hotel Marriott, Pashinyan called on his supporters to continue the protest actions and was soon detained. The investigation opened a criminal case.

What is the accusation of Serzh Sargsyan?

The opposition considers him guilty of aggravating relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan, as well as unwillingness to take measures to improve the condition of the poor in Armenia.

Sargsyan is also criticized for the fact that his government maintains close relations with Russia, where 8 years ago, a similar political maneuver exchange posts between the president and the prime minister allowed Vladimir Putin to remain in power.

Nikol Pashinyan, who was jailed in 2008 for protesting against Sargsyan, recently called the opposition's actions a "velvet revolution."

When he was president, Serzh Sargsyan stated that he does not intend to become prime minister at the end of his second term. However, on Tuesday 17 April, he was elected by the parliament for the post of prime minister.

His supporters claim that Sargsyan, who is known as one of the veterans of the Nagorno-Karabakh war at the end of 1980, is the guarantor of Armenia’s national security.

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