The ruling Republican Party of Armenia did not nominate its candidate for the post of prime minister to avoid creating a tense situation in the country, deputy speaker of parliament, RPA spokesman Eduard Sharmazanov said in an interview to MIR TV channel.

Opposition leader and founder and head of Civil Contract party Nikol Pashinyan leads a campaign against the ruling authorities, which has seen thousands of Armenians take to the streets in massive protests.

Prime minister Serzh Sargsyan was forced to resign on Monday, and Pashinyan is now seeking the appointment as prime minister by the National Assembly of what he calls “the people’s candidate,” the formation of a temporary government and snap parliamentary elections.

In the past two days, all the parliamentary factions have either expressed support for Pashinyan’s candidacy -which was announced on Monday-April 30 - as PM or have at least refused to nominate their own candidates for the prime minister's post.

“Today we have a completely different political situation in Armenia, and the Armenian authorities should be adequate to the situation. We made an adequate decision,” Sharmazanov said.

“The Republican Party is taking this step so that we in Armenia do not have destabilization of the situation. I wish prosperity and security to our people.”

According to the vice speaker of the parliament, they did not aggravate the situation and “chose the path of peaceful dialogue.”