With new PM elected, has storm in Armenia passed?

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02:45

After weeks of political turmoil and mass protests in Armenia, opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan was selected as the country’s new prime minister by parliament on Tuesday.

In many aspects, this was a landmark moment in Armenia’s recent history. Parliament voted for a new prime minister, whom was partly supported by former ruling party, the Republicans. The news was greeted with joy on the streets of capital Yerevan.

Nikol Pasinyan, at the interview for CGTN /CGTN Photo

Drivers honked their horns as they drove past the Parliament building, and tens of thousands of people gathered in the central Republic Square to celebrate. People there were partying, with the sound of local popular music blaring from loudspeakers. They hope their new prime minister will bring them changes that, they say Armenia desperately needs.

A young couple at the Square was among those who flocked to the Yerevan streets.

Ani Nahapetyan speaking to CGTN said: “We fought all these days for change in the country and in the end we won, so we came here to celebrate victory.”

And Armen Nahapetyan just supported that: “We came on this happy day so we could all celebrate together.”

Ani and Armen Nahapetyan, supporters of Nikol Pashinyan /CGTN Photo

Has the storm passed?

Newly elected Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan later addressed the crowds, promising better times. But his words were greeted with skepticism by Republican Party members.

While they supported him for the parliament vote, it was only by enough to get him across the threshold of 53 votes. And as Vice President of the Parliament of Armenia Arpine Hovhannisyan said, Pashinyan got just a temporary pass from them.

“At the moment, our promise refers only to the voting. And then, after that, we’ll see what kind of program he’ll present to the national assembly. After that we’ll announce our position,” Hovhannisyan said.

The Republican Party, which still holds the majority in the parliament, has many concerns about the future of Armenia that they intend to address to the new PM. That was stressed by their MP and also the leader of the Republican Party faction in the Armenian parliament, Vahram Baghdasaryan:

Nikol Pashinyan speaks to the MPs in the Armenia Parliament May 8, 2018. /CGTN Photo

“We need to hope that all concerns we have, Nikol Pashinyan will dismiss. And god willing, that all will be for the benefits of the people of Armenia and for our stability.”

Before the vote on his political future took place in the parliament, opposition leader at the time, Nikol Pashinyan in his interview with the CGTN outlined what his first moves would be if he was elected as PM.

“Our most important mission is to organize really free, really democratic, really transparent early elections in Armenia. Parliamentarian elections,” Pashinyan said. “And we will organize it, the elections, because the current parliament doesn’t express the real political situation in Armenia.”

Armenia has gone through dramatic political turmoil recently. Most of the people hope that turmoil will bring positive changes to their lives.