On Sunday, April 25, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that he was resigning as Prime Minister of Armenia. Earlier, he said he was oing to leave his position in order to trigger new parliamentary elections, following months of opposition protests and calls from top army officers to resign over defeat in last year’s war with neighboring Azerbaijan.
Pashinyan’s announcement of resignation was broadcasted on his official Facebook page.
According to Pashinyan, he will continue to serve as Prime Minister until the elections. The resignation of Pashinyan will begin the process of dissolving parliament ahead of elections announced for June 20. He earlier met with leaders of the parliamentary parties who agreed not to nominate a new prime minister after his resignation, compelling new elections under Armenian law. He will remain acting prime minister until the vote.
It is expected that the vote will put an end to the political crisis, which continues since Armenia’s defeat in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Earlier, Apostrophe reported that on February 25, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced an attempted military coup in the country, and the day before the Armenian Armed Forces demanded his resignation. The demand was signed by the leadership of the General Staff of the country, including Chief Onik Gasparyan, as well as commanders of large military units and the heads of all departments after the First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Thiran Khachatryan was dismissed.