PM Pashinyan to Resign Ahead of Snap Parliamentary Elections

YEREVAN — Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has reaffirmed his pledge to hold snap general elections on June 20.

“I am going to resign in April,” Pashinyan said during a weekend visit to Armenia’s southern Armavir province. “I am going to resign not to leave power but to ensure that pre-term parliamentary elections take place. I will continue to perform the prime minister’s duties in the meantime.”

“If you reaffirm your mandate, I and my team will serve you much better than we have in the past. If you don’t, we will humbly cede the mandate to whom you have elected,” he told residents of a local village.

Under the Armenian constitution, fresh elections will have to be held within two months if Pashinyan resigns and the Armenian parliament twice fails to elect another prime minister.

Pashinyan announced on March 18 his decision to pave the way for such polls after talks held with the leaders of the two opposition parties represented in the National Assembly. They are understood to have assured him that their parties will not nominate prime-ministerial candidates in the event of his tactical resignation.