By Maria Titizian,
Instead of marking papers (job 1), this is what I/we do – put everything aside and try to keep up with the dizzying speed of political maneuvering taking place in Armenia these days (job 2). If anyone has a deserted island they’re not using, send me a message.
Breaking: This evening, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with the leader of the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) Gagik Tsarukyan. The two men signed a memorandum that includes the following points:
– The sides agree that pre-term elections should take place in December 2018
– With the aim of organizing snap parliamentary elections and dissolving parliament and in the case of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation, the Tsarukyan Alliance, as a political power supporting the revolution, is obliged to refrain from tabling a candidate for the office of prime minister and will not support any other candidate; individual MPs of the Tsarukyan Alliance will not take part in any initiative by another parliamentary power to table a candidate that would require the vote of ⅓ of MPs
– The sides are obliged to conduct themselves correctly and with mutual respect during the election campaign, adhering to all other conditions as stipulated by the electoral laws
– The sides are obliged to work together to raise the level of the protection of human rights in the country, to strengthen the security of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh, to deepen effective cooperation with the Diaspora, to promote foreign direct investment, to realize fundamental social and economic reforms.
Representatives of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), Arsen Hambardzumyan and Spartak Seyranyan also met with Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan this evening. Speaking briefly to reporters afterward, Hambardzumyan said that the meeting was productive but would not provide further details.
These meetings come on the heels of a bill that was introduced last week in parliament by the Republican Party of Armenia, PAP and ARF that sought to change the rules of procedure of parliament, effectively making it more difficult for Pashinyan to call snap elections. The late night vote (which was passed) was decried by Pashinyan who called on the people to assemble in front of the National Assembly. In a matter of minutes, thousands of people moved to parliament to show their support for the prime minister and blocked all entrances to the legislature.
Following that contentious vote, Pashinyan entered the parliament building and for nearly two hours negotiated with parliamentary forces in the office of the Speaker of Parliament Ara Babloyan. It now appears that the show of force by Pashinyan and the popularity and trust that he continues to enjoy on behalf of the people has led to these fresh negotiations with these two political powers.
The memorandum with Tsarukyan is the first agreement reached within the scope of the negotiations so far.