Why Are You and Parliamentary Forces Not Demanding Snap Parliamentary Elections? Prime Minister to Marukyan

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan responded to the question posed by Edmon Marukyan, the head of the ‘Bright Armenia’ faction in the National Assembly, regarding the demands for his resignation by former presidents of Armenia, parliamentary and extra-parliamentary political forces, as well as church fathers and intellectuals. He asked, “Why are you and the parliamentary forces not demanding snap parliamentary elections? Why are these political entities and representatives of the elite constantly offering scenarios that have one goal: to exclude the people from the process, and moreover—irreversibly?”

Pashinyan stated that the forces mentioned by Marukyan are proposing the creation of instability or a puppet government in Armenia. “They propose a prime ministerial candidate who has no support from the people, who has no backing in parliament, who has no prospects of gaining the people’s support, because a condition is imposed that this candidate should not participate in the elections at all. Therefore, if changes occur under these conditions, and such a prime minister is appointed, who has no support and no backing, no source of legitimacy, who will they rely on and to whom will that power belong? Of course, the power will belong to the forces that brought them to this position,” Pashinyan said.

According to the Prime Minister, during that year that the opposition speaks of, all possible mechanisms for election falsification will be restored. “Ninety percent of those who are demanding resignation today are the same individuals who were demanding resignation since June 2018. Now you mention the war, but if you look back before the war, you will see that this message and composition have not changed. But my question is this: why do they not demand, including you, snap parliamentary elections?” the Prime Minister emphasized.