On Friday, September 26, the opposition "I Have the Honor" faction in the Armenian parliament held hearings to adopt a statement entitled "On the National Crisis and Failure of Governance," aimed at expressing a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
During the meeting, faction secretary Tigran Abrahamyan stated that the prime minister has irrevocably lost his legitimacy and that his continued rule poses a threat to Armenia. According to the MP, "[Pashinyan's] criminal actions have led to the loss of Artsakh, his careless diplomacy ignores the existence of prisoners of war, his authoritarian tendencies have led to the arrest of dissidents, and his administration has fostered a new level of corruption."
Abrahamyan emphasized that the only solution is to launch a vote of no confidence and called for "putting aside all differences and political interests, discussing in detail, and reaching agreements that will ensure a broader consensus."
Faction leader Hayk Mamijanyan reported that approximately 300 people registered for the hearings, but only 160 were allowed to attend, noting that this was unprecedented for parliament.
The Armenia faction joined the initiative. Its representative, Ishkhan Saghatelyan, handed over 28 signatures of MPs to the I Have the Honor faction.
"Our colleagues from the I Have the Honor faction took on this responsibility and began the impeachment process. Our position was that we were joining the impeachment process, published our signatures, and said that it was necessary to record the fact that the Armenia faction had joined (the initiative), and that we needed to focus on pro-government MPs, trying to obtain the missing signatures and begin the process," Saghatelyan stated at the hearings.
Thus, the opposition collected 34 signatures: 28 from the Armenia faction and six from I Have the Honor. A minimum of 36 signatures are required to initiate the procedure, and a successful vote requires the support of 54 of the 107 deputies. Now everything depends on whether the opposition can secure the support of representatives of the ruling Civil Contract party.
