Pashinyan - Marukyan Consultations to Continue. Prime Minister and Deputy Met

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a meeting at the government with Edmond Marukyan, the head of the National Assembly's 'Bright Armenia' faction. In his remarks, the Prime Minister stated, 'I am glad to see you. I must honestly say that the opportunity to continue discussions on the parliamentary elections was prompted by your statements. And I hope that at least this time we can reach a common understanding not only with you but also with our colleagues from the 'Prosperous Armenia' faction. Because if the parliamentary forces ultimately decide to hold snap elections, including based on one or two important issues, referring to timelines and so on, then we can consider the issue resolved. Initially, our perspective was that this political phase should ultimately end with the expression of the people's will, and today I would be happy to hear your views on how to move forward. Let's agree in advance that based on the outcomes of our discussion today, we will not make a decision, but I will also meet with the head of the 'Prosperous Armenia' faction, and will have discussions with the leader of the 'My Step' faction as well, although we have already discussed the overall political context with the leader of 'My Step', from which we will try to reach a solution that would be considered consensual. Perhaps we should also present the situation to the president, so that at this stage he can also express his position and somehow become a guarantor for the implementation of our agreements.'

For his part, Edmond Marukyan said, 'Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister, for responding to my statement. I would like to start directly with the proposal. I have made the proposal based on the existing political crisis, meaning that what we had has now been exacerbated by the story involving the General Staff, which is a significant part of the current political crisis. Based on this, I announced that in order to avoid further escalation and clashes, a myriad of scenarios could arise, all of which I oppose. I suggested that we stop the confrontation between the military and the government and move towards elections because it is clear that we cannot reach any agreement regarding the electoral process as long as the military issue remains unresolved. Why do I say this? Because it is evident that the Prime Minister will not resign to disperse the parliament while the issue with the General Staff remains unresolved—the generals of the General Staff are there, not leaving, making statements, etc. The context of my proposal is this: we need to address this part together and move towards elections. We have no obstacles concerning the elections in our case, but I also agree with you that we should continue negotiations. Because it is evident that at this moment we may not arrive at any solution, but in that sense, let’s keep negotiating, meaning let’s not say, ‘that’s it, it has failed,’ and let’s not pour cold water on the hopes that something can be resolved. I hope that after the meeting with the Prosperous Armenia party, we need to speak with them too. If only you and I reach a common understanding without the Prosperous Armenia party, that declaration is incomplete and we will have no solution. Therefore, I agree that consultations with that bloc should also continue, and we should reach a new common declaration, whether it works out or not, did we come to some solution, or did we not come to a solution.'

Prime Minister Pashinyan deemed it unacceptable to link the problems related to the Armed Forces General Staff with the snap elections, emphasizing the constitutional norm of the apolitical nature of the Armed Forces. During the meeting, Prime Minister Pashinyan and Edmond Marukyan agreed to continue consultations for the benefit of resolving the political crisis.