Nikol Pashinyan announces May 8 a day-off

Nikol Pashinyan, the leader of the protest movement, has announced May 8 to be a day-off, and called on all the residents of Yerevan to gather on that day in Republic Square and monitor the voting process.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 1, opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan failed to get the necessary number of MPs' votes to be appointed the Prime Minister of Armenia. On May 3, the factions of the "Elk" Party, the Tsarukyan bloc and the ARF "Dashnaktsutyun" re-nominated the oppositionist to become the Prime Minister of Armenia. The voting on his candidature, which again remains the only one, is scheduled for May 8.

The today's evening was the deadline for the nomination of candidates for the post of Prime Minister of Armenia. Nikol Pashinyan is still the only candidate.

He has stated at the today's rally that the Armenian Parliament had scheduled the voting to elect the country's Premier for the midday on May 8. He urged his supporters to gather in Republic Square at 11:00 a.m. local time and monitor the voting process, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Nikol Pashinyan said that he had received an official confirmation that "the MPs from the parliamentary factions 'Elk', ARF 'Dashnaktsutyun', 'Tsarukyan' bloc, and a number of MPs from the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) would vote for the people's candidate."

"I am 95% sure that tomorrow your candidate will be elected the Prime Minister of Armenia," Pashinyan told his supporters, adding that there will be no strikes on May 8, since he "declares this day to be a day-off."

He also stated that he calls on people to gather in Republic Square in order to "celebrate the people's victory."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.