Armenian protest leader elected prime minister
YEREVAN: Armenia's parliament on Tuesday elected opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan as prime minister after he spearheaded weeks of mass protests against the ruling party, transforming the country's political landscape.
Lawmakers voted 59 to 42 to approve Pashinyan for the job, after the ruling Republican Party came around to backing his premiership bid on his second attempt.
The party had narrowly voted him down last week, plunging the Caucasus nation into its most serious political crisis in years.
"My first work after my election will be ensuring a normal life in the country," Pashinyan said ahead of the vote.
"There will be no corruption in Armenia. Armenia will once and for all turn the page of political persecutions."
The 42 year-old added that Armenia's relations with Russia will "remain a priority".
"Military cooperation with Russia is an important factor in ensuring our country's security," Pashinyan said, referring to a two-decade long conflict his country is locked in with neighbouring Azerbaijan.
"We will (also) be developing relations with European countries and the United States, with Iran and Georgia, China and India," he added. The head of the ruling Republican Party's parliamentary faction, Vagram Bagdasaryan, said his party backed Pashinyan to "ensure stability" in the country.
"We did not change our position. We are against Nikol Pashinyan's candidacy, but the most important thing for us is to ensure stability in the country," Bagdasaryan said ahead of the vote.
Pashinyan called for an end to the protests after the Republicans - who have 58 MPS in the 105-seat legislature - promised to back him in the second attempt.
The 42-year-old former newspaper editor also secured the support of two other major political parties - Prosperous Armenia and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) - which nominated him for the post together with his opposition Elk coalition. Pashinyan was the only candidate for the premiership.
On Tuesday morning, ahead of the vote, thousands of Pashinyan supporters gathered in Yerevan's central Republic Square, sporting white t-shirts with their leader's portrait or dancing traditional Armenian dances and chanting "Nikol prime minister". BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un met in northeast China on Tuesday in an unannounced visit by the North Korean leader ahead of an expected summit with US President Donald Trump.
Shortly after the meeting was made public, Trump tweeted that he would speak to his "friend" Xi about North Korea later on Tuesday.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showed Xi and Kim taking a seaside stroll in the northeastern city of Dalian and holding talks, while the official Xinhua news agency said the two leaders met on Monday and Tuesday.
It was Kim's second visit to China since March, highlighting efforts by the Cold War-era allies to mend ties that have chilled as Beijing has supported UN sanctions over Pyongyang's nuclear activities. Beijing is keen to avoid being left out in the cold in the wake of Kim's historic summit last month with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his expected meeting with Trump in June.
"After the first meeting between me and Comrade Chairman (Kim), both CHINADPRK relations and the Korean peninsula situation have made positive progress. I feel happy about it," Xi said, according to Xinhua. For his part, Kim was quoted as saying: "These are the positive outcomes of the historic meeting between me and Comrade General Secretary (Xi)."
And Trump tweeted that "the primary topics" of his discussion with Xi "will be Trade, where good things will happen, and North Korea, where relationships and trust are building." Mystery plane Japanese media had earlier shown images of an airplane normally used by North Korean VIPS flying out of Dalian, fuelling speculation that Kim had been in town.
Xi said he was willing to meet Kim again to make joint efforts to have a healthy bilateral relationship, achieve peace on the Korean peninsula and promote regional stability, Xinhua said.