After Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan refused the 16 opposition parties’ call for his resignation, protesters again took to the street at around 1 pm local time on December 8. Couple hundred demonstrators were able to block major streets and the metro station in Yerevan’s center for several hours.
The 16 opposition parties led by Vazgen Manukyan had given Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan until Tuesday to resign his position. Of the 16 parties, only one – Prosperous Armenia – has seats in the current parliament. Pashinyan’s refusal to resign led to small scale civil disobedience actions shortly after.
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Protests have been ongoing in Armenia following Pashinyan’s signing of the trilateral agreement, effectively ending the Karabakh War and handing over a large portion of Karabakh to Azerbaijan.
Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia Aram I both have called for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation. Karekin II stated that parliament should elect a new prime minister and allow for the formation of a unity government. Aram I called for the Pashinyan to resign to pave the way for the end of the crisis and called for snap parliamentary elections.
Earlier, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian called for Nikol Pashinyan to form a national unity government and to prepare for early parliamentary elections.
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