ARMENIA’S crisis deepened on Wednesday as tens of thousands of people took to the streets after the opposition accused the government of refusing to negotiate a transfer of power following the resignation of veteran leader Serzh Sarkisian.

Protesters shouted, clapped, whistled, beat drums and tooted car horns in demonstrations that underscored the political turmoil gripping the impoverished former Soviet republic.

Led by 42-year-old Nikol Pashinyan, thousands of demonstrators marched through Yerevan against the Republican Party’s unwillingness to facilitate the transfer of power after former president Sarkisian stood down on Monday from his new post of prime minister. Stepan Grigoryan, a political analyst who joined the rallies, said it was a do-or-die situation, describing the current system as “criminal”.

“The head has been chopped off,” he said, referring to Sarkisian’s resignation on Monday, “but the body — the Republican Party — remains and it needs to be removed.”

In a surprise move, Sarkisian, who served as president for a decade, stood down as prime minister just a week after being elected by parliament, following days of protests by demonstrators who accused him of a blatant power grab. Pashinyan, leader of the Civil Contract Party, had been due on Wednesday to hold talks with acting government head Karen Karapetyan to discuss a “peaceful” power transfer. But the negotiations were cancelled late Tuesday.

Pashinyan has insisted the new premier must be a “people’s candidate” and not a member of Sarkisian’s party, and told reporters he was himself willing to lead. Karapetyan, who has accused Pashinyan of promoting his own agenda, proposed holding a snap election so voters themselves could decide on the new leader under a parliamentary system of government.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2018