The united opposition of Armenia expects that the country's president, Armen Sarkissian, will petition the Armenian Constitutional Court over the dismissal of General Staff Chief Onik Gasparyan until March 8, opposition leader Vazgen Manukyan said on Wednesday at a rally outside the parliament building
YEREVAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd March, 2021) The united opposition of Armenia expects that the country's president, Armen Sarkissian, will petition the Armenian Constitutional Court over the dismissal of General Staff Chief Onik Gasparyan until March 8, opposition leader Vazgen Manukyan said on Wednesday at a rally outside the parliament building.
Earlier in the day, the general staff announced Gasparyan would keep fulfilling his duties for at least eight days despite Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's attempts to oust him.
"They do not have the authority to fire the head of the general staff until March 8, in that period the president has to petition the constitutional court. This promise and this reality have been explained to our delegation, which has just visited the presidential office," Manukyan said.
The opposition leader also expressed confidence that the military leadership would not follow through on Pashinyan's demand to dismiss Gasparyan, which Manukyan described as illegal.
A political crisis erupted in Yerevan after the deputy chief of the Armenian general staff mocked Pashinyan's controversial comment about the alleged failure of Russian-supplied Iskander missiles during the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. This triggered a series of dismissals in the army. The armed forces issued a statement demanding the resignation of Pashinyan himself, the prime minister regarded this as an attempted coup and called on his supporters to take to the streets.
