Nikol Pashinyan the only opposition candidate for prime minister of Armenia

21:55, 28 April

Tsarukyan, the second largest political faction in the National Assembly of Armenia, will not put forward its own candidate for prime-ministership.

“We will vote for the national candidate as a team. We will not put forward our own candidate. We will support whoever is appointed by the nation,” said Gagik Tsarukyan, the head of the faction.

19:40, 28 April

According to Eduard Sharmazanov, the deputy parliamentary speaker and press secretary of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), the RPA has decided not to put forward its own candidate for prime-ministership.

He was also unable to say who the RPA MPs will vote for on 1 May.

“Who we vote for will depend on what programme they put forward.”

14:00, 28 April 

MP Nikol Pashinyan, the leader of the Armenian protest movement, continued to hold meetings today with provincial residents. He was accompanied by a convoy of supporters.

The residents met the convoy with posters and flags. In one village the residents were so excited by the arrival of Pashinyan and his supporters that they offered to slaughter a lamb and prepare a feast, which Pashinyan refused.

The opposition leader is calling on Armenia’s provincial residents to join those in Yerevan, to fill the streets of the capital and to continue to restrict the traffic on election day – 1 May, and on 30 April as well.

“We all had our hand in this victory. In Armenia the power is already in the hands of the nation, and it will remain there. The PM, the government and other official figures must serve the nation. Whoever doesn’t want to serve the nation must resign,” Pashinyan stated.

According to an official report, a meeting took place between President Armen Sargsyan, former PM Serzh Sargsyan and acting PM Karen Karapetyan.

Some RPA MPs excluded the possibility of voting for the ‘national’ candidate – Nikol Pashinyan – while protesters say that no-one other than the head of the protest movement can assume the position of prime minister.

Karapetyan said: “I think its wrong for the RPA to nominate its own candidate in this situation. Given the new conditions, the RPA cannot effectively govern. The RPA has been in power for too long and this public protest is the result of this.”

RPA MP Samvel Farmanyan believes that Nikol Pashinyan must put forward convincing arguments as to why the RPA should vote for him:

“Come speak with our faction representatives, and in a calm tone explain why we should vote for you; then answer our colleagues’ questions.”