Talks between Armenian authorities and protest movement stall again

22:00, April 27

Armenia’s acting Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan commented on the reasons he refused to meet the protest movement leader Nikol Pashinyan. As he pointed out, Pashinyan’s proposed format of negotiations in the presence of the mass media lacks any prospects.

“Negotiations are meaningful when the sides are willing to listen to each other, when they are ready to understand each other’s position. Whether they will manage to reach an agreement or not, whether they will be flexible as the negotiators or not, is already a process. However, when it is announced from the very start that this is the agenda and the other side has no right to form any of its own, these are not the negotiations. I don’t even know what to call it,” said Karapetyan.

Nikol Pashinyan keeps claiming that he is a ‘people’s candidate’ for prime minister, who was chosen as the country’s future leader by the people who gathered at the Republic Square, and that the authorities have no other choice but to come to terms with it.

As reported, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun (ARFD), which quitted the pro-governmental coalition, has agreed to vote in favor of Pashinyan in the Prime Minister’s election. The ARFD believes that ‘as a result of consensus, a PM candidate shall introduce a relevant composition of the new government and its action plan.’ The other two parliamentary factions – Tsarukyan and the Republican Party haven’t announced yet, whether they are going to nominate their candidates or vote for Pashinyan.

A few hours ago

The Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan does not consider it ‘worthwhile’ to participate in the negotiations initiated by protest movement leader Nikol Pashinyan.

Yesterday, Nikol Pashinyan, the leader of the movement protesting the Republican Party’s rule, invited Karapetyan to join him in negotiations at the Marriott Hotel, at 12 noon on 27 April, in order to discuss the present-day situation in the country and the possible solutions thereof. However, he stressed that the meeting should be held in the presence of the mass media. As JAMnews reported earlier, now-former Prime Minister of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan similarly refused to engage in talks in this format shortly before his resignation.

Karapetyan’s press office has released a statement on his behalf, saying that ‘Acting Prime Minister Karapetyan believes that holding talks in the presence of the mass media already implies that they are not meant to achieve any results’.

In this regard, PM Karapetyan finds it futile to take part in ‘negotiations’ that are not likely to find any solutions. As is also pointed out in the statement, Pashinyan should accept President Sarkissian’s proposal to discuss the current situation in the country jointly with other political forces.