The Armenian opposition will continue blocking entry to the country's parliament building as part of a long-running protest against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan with plans to escalate the protest by holding a major rally at noon GMT, Ishkhan Saghatelyan, a representative of the opposition Homeland Salvation Movement, said on Wednesday
YEREVAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th March, 2021) The Armenian opposition will continue blocking entry to the country's parliament building as part of a long-running protest against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan with plans to escalate the protest by holding a major rally at noon GMT, Ishkhan Saghatelyan, a representative of the opposition Homeland Salvation Movement, said on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, protesters blocked entrances to the parliament from both Marshal Baghramyan Avenue and Derenik Demirtchyan Street.
"At night, our citizens kept the Baghramyan avenue and Demirtchyan street blocked ... The blockade of the entrances into the National Assembly continues. We agreed with the citizens that the National Assembly will be opened only with a political majority coming to the parliament to formalize the dismissal [of Pashinyan]," Saghatelyan said in a live broadcast on Facebook.
The activist added that another rally would be held outside of the parliament later on Wednesday.
"A large rally is scheduled here for 04:00 p.m. [noon GMT]," Saghatelyan said.
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 military dismissals. 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. Meanwhile, the opposition raised barricades and a tent camp near the parliament, demanding that Pashinyan resign.
