YEREVAN, Armenia — Armenia’s parliament rejected making the opposition lawmaker who led weeks of anti-government rallies the country’s new prime minister Tuesday, prompting him to call for a nationwide strike in protest.
After a nine-hour session, the chamber voted 55-45 against appointing Nikol Pashinian. He was the only candidate nominated to replace long-time leader Serzh Sargsyan, who resigned as prime minister because of the protests.
Between 30,000 and 40,000 opposition supporters spent the day peacefully rallying outside the parliament building to support Pashinian. The vote’s outcome upset many of them.
“They spat on us but we’re not going to tolerate this,” bakery owner Samvel Rustamyan, 46, said while jeering and punching his fists in the air. “This government just won’t resign on its own will. It’s tens of thousands of us, and we need them to go. We can’t take this anymore.”
Tens of thousands of opposition supporters clapped and chanted Pashinian’s name as he made his way through the crowd at Republic Square to the stage after the vote, his wife holding onto his arm.
Confetti flew over the square as if in celebration as Pashinian urged his supporters to launch a strike and block all major roads in the country to protest parliament’s vote. The crowd’s mood was jubilant despite the setback, as a light show lit up the rally and people shined flashlights from their cellphones.
“Our movement can only end in victory,” the hoarse-voiced Pashinian told the rally. “We are starting large-scale actions of civil disobedience tomorrow.”
Hours earlier, Pashinian warned his colleagues in parliament that Armenia would be roiled by a “political tsunami” if the majority party didn’t support him.
“I would like to warn you that your attempts to interpret the tolerance of the popular movement as weakness could cause unexpected and undesirable consequences,” Pashinian said, addressing members of the ruling Republican Party from the rostrum. “Get sober until it’s too late, because your behavior could cause a political tsunami.”
Pashinian, however, pledged that the protest would remain non-violent, rejecting suggestions by members of the ruling party that he is encouraging divisions in the country.
It’s “people on one side and 20-25 Republican party members on the other,” he said.
But some warned that Tuesday’s vote might spark violent protests despite Pashinian’s pledges.
“Authorities’ actions are pushing the opposition to radicalize, and this movement might spill into violence,” Yerevan-based political analyst Vigen Akopyan said. “Pashinian won’t be able to keep the protest peaceful for long. People are very angry.”
The Armenian Constitution dictates that parliament will convene next week for another vote.
Pashinian spearheaded the protests that forced Sargsyan to resign after less than a week as premier. Sargsyan led Armenia as president for 10 years until term limits forced him to step down and was made prime minister in mid-April.
The opposition in this Caucasus Mountains country saw Sargsyan’s move into the prime minister’s chair as an attempt by him to stay in power indefinitely.
While Pashinian was the only candidate for prime minister, the chamber is controlled by Sargsyan’s Republicans. Not a single Republican lawmaker appeared to have voted for him.
Before the vote, lawmakers grilled Pashinian during a question-and-answer session. Later, dozens of them took the floor to speak about Pashinian’s candidacy.
Republican deputies accused Pashinian of exploiting the young people who have been his core supporters. Some said Pashinian doesn’t have a program to offer the country.
Opposition members of parliament joined Pashinian in warning that a vote against him would be a vote against the tens of thousands of people who joined the anti-government rallies in recent weeks.
“The only thing that people on this square will accept is Pashinian’s win, changes in the country and the ouster of the old clan,” said engineer David Babayan, 47, who came to Republic Square with his wife and 10-year-old son.
The vote against Pashinian might be a deliberate tactic of the Republican party, which previously didn’t say if it was going to vote against him, to get the opposition to meet some of its demands half-way.
“Authorities have decided to bide for time, trying to get the opposition to offer concessions,” said Alexander Iskanderian, director of the Caucasus Institute in Yerevan. “Authorities will obviously want to secure guarantees of immunity from prosecution and seats in a new government.”
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Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow contributed to this report.
