Successful Color Revolution in Armenia? Prime Minister Forced to Resign, Thousands in the Streets
We've been receiving urgent news from Armenia all day. Their Prime Minister, Serzh Sargsyan, has announced his retirement. People have been trying to achieve this via mass protests in Yerevan and other cities. Looks like they finally got it. What's next? What does this retirement mean for Armenia that has recently switched from a presidential republic to a parliamentary one?
Dmitry Petrov reports on the issue.
Armenia's PM, Serzh Sargsyan, who was elected to this position by Parliament on April 17th, has declared his retirement. The politician's announcement has been published on the government leader's official website in two languages, Armenian and Russian. Sargsyan addressed all the citizens of the Armenian Republic: the ones who stuck with him till the end, and the ones who demanded his retirement.
Serzh Sargsyan: "I'm addressing you as this country's leader for the last time. Nikol Pashinyan was right, I've made a mistake. The current situation has several solutions, but I won't go for any of them. This isn't my decision. I'm leaving the position of the country's leader, the Armenian PM".
By that moment, tens of thousands of people had gathered on the square in Yerevan. They've all been demanding Sargsyan's retirement. During the day, they found out that the previously arrested opposition's deputies had been set free, including the protest's leader, Nikol Pashinyan. The day before, Serzh Sargsyan tried to negotiate with him, but it only lasted for three minutes. The protests against Sargsyan began a few days ago after the former President was elected to be the PM, and after the Constitution had been altered about the changes in the form of government, switching from Presidential to Parliamentary, which granted more powers to the head of government. The entire time, the authorities managed to keep the situation under control.
Russian President's Press Secretary, Dmitry Peskov has commented on the Armenian events.
Dmitry Peskov: "Armenia is our closest ally, the country which we maintain the closest relationship with. Armenia is a EurAsEc member. This country is very important to us, so we are very closely monitoring what is happening there" .
The CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) has the same position considering it to be an internal affair of Armenia. Several hours ago, the Armenian President, Armen Sarkissian accepted the resignation of the entire government. This was reported by the head of government's press service.
Now, Armenia will have to pick a new PM. Armenia's Republican Party, the Party of Power, whose leader is still Serzh Sargsyan, has 59 out of 105 seats in the National Assembly. Their coalition partner, Dashnaktsutyun, only has 7 seats. According to the law, they will have to nominate a new candidate to become the head of government. The 'Way Out' Alliance, which Pashinyan is a member of, only has 9 spots in the Parliament, which means negotiation is unavoidable.
During the protest in Yerevan, the protest leader declared that the opposition wants a negotiation with Karapetyan. who's temporarily serving as the Prime Minister, this Wednesday.
Dmitry Petrov, Anna Kolk, Aleksandra Berezkina, Vesti.