Armenian Opposition Takes People to the Streets

Home / News / Armenian Opposition Takes People to the Streets
Mass actions of civil disobedience began in Yerevan. Protesters demand the resignation of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. At noon on Tuesday, December 8, expired the deadline for an ultimatum to the Armenian opposition, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. A number of opposition parties have called on their supporters to resume protests. On December 5, after a series of rallies, the united opposition, outraged by Pashinyan signing the trilateral declaration with the presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia on the cessation of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh, delivered an ultimatum to the prime minister. In the event he does not submit his resignation together with his government before noon on Tuesday, mass actions of civil disobedience will begin throughout the republic. Pashinyan did not respond to calls for resignation, so, opposition leaders urged people to take to the streets. At the same time, the opposition appealed to law enforcement officials with an appeal not to carry out the "illegal orders" of the Prime Minister and not to use force against the protesters. Mobile groups of protesters block the roads Thousands of people took to the streets in different parts of Yerevan and began blocking roads in small mobile groups. They chant “Nikol is a traitor!” And “Nikol, go away!” At some point, traffic in the entire center was paralyzed, car drivers honking their horns, supporting the protesters. From time to time, fights occur between protesters and police officers. As of 16:00 local time, the police detained more than forty people. According to one of the participants in the protest march in the center of the capital of Artyom, Pashinyan actually signed a "surrender document" on November 9. “He could have stopped the war much earlier, and then we would not have lost so many people,” he told DW. “As a result of his actions, we suffered a painful defeat, as a result of which Karabakh lost significant territories, we have a problem with the return of prisoners of war, refugees to be accommodated. " "The trust in Pashinyan is exhausted, he must leave," Artyom concludes. Catholicos calls on Pashinyan to resign Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II also called on Nikol Pashinyan to resign. "In connection with the growing internal tensions, serious external challenges and a lack of public trust in the Prime Minister, we fatherly call on him to step down in order to prevent upheavals in society, as well as possible clashes and tragic consequences," the Catholicos said in a statement.