Thousands of supporters of Armenian opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan gathered in the capital on Tuesday in anticipation of a vote in parliament set to install him as prime minister.<\/p>\n
The vote follows days of mass protests by Pashinyan\u2019s supporters that forced Armenia\u2019s veteran leader, Serzh Sarksyan, to step down as prime minister and set the scene for a dramatic change in power in the former Soviet state.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe made a revolution in our country,\u201d said Karine Balayan, a 19-year-old who was wearing a T-shirt bearing Pashinyan\u2019s portrait. \u201cThe whole world will respect us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tumultuous events have been watched warily in Moscow, which sees Armenia as a strategic ally and does not want a change of rulers that pulls it out of its orbit. Moscow has a military base in Armenia. Pashinyan has said he will keep close ties with the Kremlin.<\/p>\n
Armenia\u2019s ruling Republican Party, closely allied to the ousted Sarksyan, holds the majority in parliament.<\/p>\n
In a concession to the strength of the protests, which for a day last week brought the country to a virtual standstill, the party has signaled that it will put its votes behind Pashinyan\u2019s candidacy when parliament votes later on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy the end of the parliamentary session, Armenia will have a prime minister. The Republican Party\u2019s votes will go toward making up for any votes missing from the 53 needed for the election of a prime minister,\u201d Republican Party lawmaker Samvel Farmanyan said.<\/p>\n
Pashinyan, a former journalist who spent time in jail on charges of fomenting unrest, is the only candidate.<\/p>\n
His election as prime minister would mark a rupture with the cadre of leaders who since the late 1990s have controlled Armenia, a country of about three million people nestling in mountains between Turkey and Iran.<\/p>\n
Crowds of Pashinyan supporters were gathering on Republic Square, in the capital Yerevan, in anticipation of their leader becoming prime minister.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great day in the history of Armenia\u2026We will live in a free and democratic country,\u201d said one of them, Mger Abramyan, a 69-year-old pensioner.<\/p>\n
Pashinyan\u2019s protest movement was sparked when Sarksyan, barred by the constitution from seeking another term as president, became prime minister instead. Many Armenians saw that as a cynical ploy by Sarskyan and his associates to extend their hold on power.<\/p>\n
The protests led by Pashinyan, wearing his trademark camouflage T-shirt and military-style cap, channeled a sense among many Armenians that corruption and cronyism was rife in the ruling elite.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thousands of supporters of Armenian opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan gathered in the capital on Tuesday in anticipation of a vote in parliament set to install him as prime minister. The vote follows days of mass protests by Pashinyan\u2019s supporters that forced Armenia\u2019s veteran leader, Serzh Sarksyan, to step down as prime minister and set the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":87709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7863],"tags":[37444,37445,37443,37446],"class_list":["post-87707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english-section","tag-armenia","tag-karine-balayan","tag-nikol-pashinyan","tag-pashinyan"],"yoast_head":"\n