Armenian Opposition to Boycott Possible Snap Election: Protest Leader
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Armenia's protest leader Nikol Pashinyan said Friday that the country's opposition would boycott a possible snap parliamentary election.
However, Pashinyan noted that he won't boycott the election if he is chosen the opposition's prime minister, Sputnik reported.
Earlier in the day, acting Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan refused to engage in talks with Pashinyan as they had no prospects.
"The acting prime minister believes the talks in which one side dictates the agenda, and the other can't submit an agenda can't be considered talks," spokesman Aram Araratyan wrote on Facebook.
The statement comes after earlier this week, Armenia's acting Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan suggested holding a snap parliamentary election, following the voluntary resignation of his predecessor and ex-president, Serzh Sargsyan, and failure of negotiations with the opposition.
Protests against the appointment of the country's former president Serzh Sargsyan on the office of Armenia's prime minister started on April 13.
Sargsyan, who served two five-year consecutive terms as president before being nominated as prime minister, was accused of trying to get around presidential term limits since the 2015 constitutional amendments transferred governing powers from the president to the head of the government.
On Monday, Sargsyan resigned, while First Deputy Prime Minister Karapetyan became the acting prime minister and entered negotiations with the protest leader, Pashinyan.
