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Representative for Armenian opposition leader says meeting with RF MPs was very positive

A group of State Duma members of parliament arrived in Yerevan on Friday to discuss prospects of Russian - Armenian relations with Armenia’s National Assembly parliamentarians

YEREVAN, April 29. /TASS/. A meeting between Armenian opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan and Russian MPs was very positive; the parties discussed bilateral relations, press secretary for the Civil Contract party Tigran Avinyan told TASS on Sunday.

"The meeting was very positive," he said. "Issues of bilateral relations and [ways] to overcome the situation in Armenia were discussed."

A group of State Duma members of parliament arrived in Yerevan on Friday to discuss prospects of Russian - Armenian relations with Armenia’s National Assembly parliamentarians.

Opposition activists started mass rallies in Armenia on April 13. On April 23, Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan resigned amid protests, and on April 25 the ruling coalition dissolved after the Dashnaktsutyun party had withdrawn from it. An election of the prime minister will be held in the parliament on May 1. Three parliamentary factions - Tsarukyan Bloc, Dashnaktsutyun and Yelk - already declared that they are ready to vote for Pashinyan’s candidacy. The ruling Republican Party of Armenia will not nominate its candidate.

Pashinyan (an MP from the Yelk faction) will become prime minister if 53 out of 105 (a simple majority) of MPs of the one-chamber parliament vote for him. The faction of the ruling Republic Party of Armenia has 58 seats in the parliament, Yelk has nine, and Dashnaktsutyun, seven. The Tsarukyan Bloc has 31 more seats in the parliament.

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