Pashinyan calls new opposition illegitimate

PanARMENIAN.Net - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has stated that the opposition set to be formed in the new National Assembly is “a political entity formed as a result of completely illegal activity.”

According to Pashinyan, Armenia has the legitimate right to deprive those processes and circles of the opportunity for further political activity, Panorama.am reports.

The prime minister said the government is facing new challenges and that responding to them should become an important part of the upcoming political agenda, Radar Armenia writes.

“Today we must create guarantees that political forces engaged in vote-buying and operating according to that logic will have no chance of exerting any political influence in Armenia.

We must clearly state that the parliamentary opposition being formed in the 9th convocation of the National Assembly is a political entity created as a result of completely illegal activity. In fact, it is difficult even to call it a political entity. It is Armenia’s legitimate right to deprive those processes and circles of the possibility of continuing political activity. Therefore, Armenia must take appropriate measures,” he said.

According to the prime minister, these issues have not been resolved until now because “in an environment lacking peace, resolving such issues becomes significantly more difficult.”

On June 14, the final results of the June 7 parliamentary elections were published. Civil Contract received 726,819 votes, or 49.7456 percent. Strong Armenia won 340,006 votes, or 23.2710 percent, while the Hayastan Alliance received 144,983 votes, or 9.9231 percent. The Prosperous Armenia Party failed to pass the 4 percent threshold, receiving 58,287 votes, or 3.9893 percent.

Civil Contract will hold 64 seats in parliament, including three allocated to representatives of national minorities. Strong Armenia will have 29 seats, including one seat reserved for an Assyrian representative, while the Hayastan Alliance will hold 12 seats.