First President of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan posted the following on his Facebook page:

“Vazgen Manukyan [candidate of the opposition Homeland Salvation Movement for Prime Minister of Armenia] today presented three options for a solution to the domestic political crisis, including a. military coup, b. the road to achieve the resignation of the Prime Minister through the pressure of the whole nation organized by the opposition Homeland Salvation Movement and c. the inadmissibility of the holding of snap elections by the Prime Minister.

However, Manukyan doesn’t take into consideration the following circumstances: the first option is absolutely unconstitutional which the army realized and rejected with full resoluteness. As far as the opposition Homeland Salvation Movement is concerned, it is already outdated since the four-month public events and sharp disagreements showed that it doesn’t enjoy the support of the masses at all.

In regard to the third option, I fully agree with Manukyan because besides dodging responsibility for the embarrassing defeat, the Prime Minister and his supporting political party are guided by the overt obsession of maintaining power, not the concern about strengthening and empowering the state. I also agree with the public’s claims that the ruling party will use administrative resources, if it holds elections, and as a result, all polling stations may become hotbeds for tension. In this case, I am certain that we Armenians will witness the most embarrassing elections in the history of Armenia, and this may mean the end of Armenian statehood.

Thus, the only way out which will be the interests of the state, the people and the Prime minister is, in my opinion, the immediate and voluntary resignation of the Prime Minister and perhaps temporary refuge of the Prime Minister abroad, by ensuring legal guarantees for immunity by the National Assembly. In this case, the duties of the Prime Minister need to be performed by a non-partisan Deputy Prime Minister who will be able to ensure the holding of fair elections through neutrality.”

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16.03.2021 07:32