Deadlock as acting PM rejects talks
YEREVAN: Armenia’s acting head of government Karen Karapetyan yesterday rebuffed talks proposed by opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan, further escalating tensions after two weeks of protests.
Mr Karapetyan’s refusal to negotiate came after he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on Thursday.
Mr Pashinyan, who is leading the mass anti-government protests, has defiantly declared himself the only suitable candidate for prime minister in the Moscowallied country.
Armenia was plunged into crisis over the fate of veteran leader Serzh Sarkisian, who finally quit on Monday after a decade in power.
Mr Pashinyan has issued an ultimatum to the authorities, saying he should be elected prime minister in a vote by lawmakers on May 1.
But a spokesman for Mr Karapetyan dismissed Mr Pashinyan’s demands.
“The acting prime minister believes that negotiations where one side dictates the agenda and the other cannot do so, cannot be considered negotiations,” the spokesman said yesterday.
Instead, Mr Pashinyan should discuss ways to tackle the crisis together with all political forces, the spokesman quoted Mr Karapetyan as saying.
Mr Pashinyan accused Mr Sarkisian’s ruling Republican Party of seeking to increase the turmoil and urged his supporters to stage new rallies to pile pressure on Mr Karapetyan.
“The fact that Karen Karapetyan refused to negotiate means that the Republican Party is in total disarray,” Mr Pashinyan told reporters yesterday.
“The question is, does the Republican Party want to settle the crisis or not?” he said, suggesting the ruling elites could not conduct free and fair elections.
“We should have a guarantee that an election will be really free, really transparent, really democratic,” he said in English, wearing his trademark camouflage T-shirt.
Speaking to supporters on Thursday, Mr Pashinyan said he needed to become the next leader to oversee snap parliamentary elections and clean up the political system.
“If I am not elected prime minister, then Armenia will not have a prime minister at all,” the 42-year-old former newspaper editor said.
The crisis erupted over Mr Sarkisian’s election as prime minister by parliament last week after a decade as president. He resigned on Monday on the 11th day of the protests.
But the ruling party has a majority of seats in parliament and Mr Pashinyan does not have enough support from lawmakers to get elected.