YEREVAN, May 8. /ARKA/. By a vote of 59 to 42 Armenia’s National Assembly elected today opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan as prime minister. Addressing the parliament before the vote he said his first work after his election will be ensuring a normal life in the country.
“There will be no corruption in Armenia. Armenia will once and for all turn the page of political persecutions.” He said also that military cooperation with Russia is an important factor in ensuring the country’s security.
Nikol Pashinyan was born June 1, 1975 in the town of Ijevan. He was expelled from Yerevan State University, where majored in journalism, in 1995, for his political activities, and later when he was chief editor of the daily Haykakan Zhamanak, he faced libel charges. The daily was highly critical of the governments of former presidents Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan.
Pashinyan joined Armenia’s first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan in the 2008 presidential election, and had to go into hiding shortly after the unrest following the election, when 10 people were killed. He was wanted by the Armenian police on allegations of murder and mass disorder. In June 2009, he came out of hiding and turned himself to the police. He was sentenced to 7 years in prison and was released after an amnesty was granted to many political prisoners in May 2011, nearly two years after he was jailed.
On May 6, 2012 he was first elected to parliament on Ter-Petrosyan’s National Assembly of Armenia’s ticket. On December 9, 2013 Pashinyan and other six politicians and activists started a new political group called Civil Contract. Before the 2017 general elections Civil Contract and two other parties made a bloc called Yelk winning 9 seats in the parliament.
Various political and civil groups led by Nikol Pashinyan started anti-government protests in Armenia on March 31 (most commonly known as Merzhir Serzhin (“reject Serzh”). Protests and marches were held in response to Serzh Sargsyan’s third consecutive term as prime minister. Weeks of antigovernment protests forced Sargsyan to resign as prime minister just days after he was elected to the position by the parliament, controlled by his Republican Party of Armenia.
On May 1 Pashinyan, nominated by the opposition parliamentary bloc Yelk for the post of prime minister, secured the backing of 41 lawmakers in the 105-seat parliament, not enough to win the vote. The Republican Party that thwarted Pashinyan’s first attempt to become prime minister said later it would not nominate its candidate for the post and would support Pashinyan’s candidacy. Pashinyan is married and has four children. -0-