Pashinyan Agrees to Snap Elections

Still, at the rally in downtown Yerevan, Pashinyan took a more conciliatory tone towards Sarkissian. “I hope that our President, given his years of experience and wisdom as a diplomat and politician, will take the best interest of the people into consideration in his decision” he told the crowd, wishing him a speedy recovery. President Sarkissian has remained in poor health since contracting COVID-19 while vacationing in London.

However, the next day, President Sarkissian announced his intention not to sign the order, but didn’t outright reject it. Under the current Constitution, the president has three days to confirm or reject an order from the National Assembly, failing to take action results in it automatically coming into force. The president did add that he would submit a separate application to the Constitutional Court to clarify the “legally problematic” wording on the matter.

Invoking the memory of the victims of the March 1, 2008 massacre, Pashinyan reiterated once more that “tanks cannot change governments, only the power of the people.” He also asked the people of Armenia, Artsakh and the diaspora to forgive his government for what he called “many mistakes” since taking office, as well as those of previous administrations, before leading a procession towards Myasnikyan Square.

At least three other demonstrations took place in the city in connection to the March 1st anniversary, all of which were equally peaceful and without incident. The Armenian National Congress — which had organized the original protests which ended in bloodshed in 2008 —held a church service before laying flowers near the site where most of the killings took place. Near the Matenadaran, another group of protesters, this time the nationalist supporters of the Sasna Tsrer militant group earlier marched under torch light. They blame the current authorities for losing the war but also accuse the previous government of decades of mismanagement and corruption.

Activists of the “Homeland Salvation Movement,” a coalition of 16 opposition parties, continued their sit-in in front of the National Assembly building. Supporters have set up tents on the blocked street in a scene reminiscent of the opposition camp which the authorities attacked on March 1st 2008. The coalition’s primary leaders — the Republican, Prosperous Armenia and Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) parties — formed the government at the time of that incident. Former Chief of the Army General Staff Yuri Khatchaturov and Former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan were among the invited speakers. Both men are currently facing charges of toppling constitutional order for their involvement in the 2008 shooting incident.

At the rally, ARF Supreme Body member Ishkhan Saghatelyan reiterated his party’s demand that the prime minister resign immediately. “We will not leave this street until our demands are met” he told supporters. The Homeland Salvation Movement — of which the ARF is a member have repeatedly rejected proposals for snap elections organized under the current government over concerns that it would use administrative resources to skew the results. This in spite of the fact that the Armenian Electoral Code stipulates that the Central Election Committee — not the prime minister — is in charge of organizing the vote. They instead want to see power transferred to a “transitional government of technocrats” for a year. This concept has been rejected by both the ruling party and the opposition Bright Armenia party. The legality of such an arrangement has also been put in question by constitutional scholars.

Of the two parliamentary opposition forces, only the Bright Armenia Party has since accepted the prime minister’s request to fast-track snap elections. The Prosperous Armenia Party led by business tycoon Gagik Tsarukyan has yet to accept. Tsarukyan’s party is the only member of the 16-party opposition coalition to have parliamentary representation.