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Protests resume after Armenian parliament fails to elect Pashinyan as PM

Several hundreds of students blocked the central streets in Armenia’s capital of Yerevan and also the highways connecting the city with the airport

© AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis

YEREVAN, May 2. /TASS/. Protests resumed in Armenia on Wednesday morning after the parliament rejected opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan as the prime minister.

Several hundreds of students blocked the central streets in Armenia’s capital of Yerevan and also the highways connecting the city with the airport.

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Armenia’s ruling party opposes Pashinyan’s candidacy for prime minister

"We demand that the Republican Party withdraw from power and vote for the people’s candidate for premier Nikol Pashinyan," leader of the students’ movement David Petrosyan said.

Police are on alert but have not so far interfered in the protests.

Earlier Pashinyan called on his supporters to launch large-scale civil disobedience actions at 8 a.m. (7 a.m. Moscow Time) on May 2. He urged his supporters to block all roads in the republic and the ways to the airports not to allow the authorities to "steal people’s victory."

Speaking at the parliament’s session on Tuesday, Pashinyan ruled out the scenario of a violent struggle for power.

On Tuesday, Armenia’s parliament held a special session to elect a new prime minister. Pashinyan was the only candidate. However, only 45 parliament members voted in his favor, while he needed to receive at least 53 votes to become prime minister.

Under Armenia’s legislation, in case parliament members fail to elect a prime minister, another round of voting should be held within seven days. If the second attempt also fails, the parliament must be dissolved.

The parliament will hold another session to elect a prime minister on May 8.

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