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Thousands took part in a protest against Armenia's ruling party in Gyumri, the country's second city, on Friday, demanding that protest leader Nikol Pashinyan be made prime minister. Pashinyan led the rally as Armenia's political crisis deepened, with acting head of government Karen Karapetyan rebuffing talks proposed by the protest leader and further escalating tensions after veteran leader Serzh Sarkisian resigned following mass protests on Monday. "We need to explain to Karen Karapetyan that he cannot be prime minister. This is a different Armenia," said Pashinyan, who has defiantly declared himself the only suitable candidate for prime minister in the Moscow-allied country.
The 42 year-old opposition lawmaker declared a "people's victory", saying Armenia will be victorious in its long standing conflict with neighbouring Azerbaijan as well as over "poverty and corruption". Many protesters waved Armenian flags and chanted "Nikol for prime minister". "The government has to be changed. We demand that Pashinyan be made prime minister," Samvel Karapetyan, a 48-year-old builder who took part in the rally told AFP. Pashinyan earlier headed a column of cars carrying hundreds of his supporters from Yerevan to Gyumri, a city north of the capital that also hosts a Russian military base. An AFP reporter travelling with the protest leader said villagers on the way gave Pashinyan a hero's welcome, offering him traditional bread and salt as well as fresh fruit.
Karapetyan's refusal to negotiate came after he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on Thursday. Pashinyan has issued an ultimatum to the authorities, saying he should be elected prime minister in a vote by lawmakers on May 1.
But a spokesman for Karapetyan dismissed Pashinyan's demands. "The acting prime minister believes that negotiations where one side dictates the agenda and the other cannot do so, cannot be considered negotiations," the spokesman said Friday. Instead, Pashinyan should discuss ways to tackle the crisis together with all political forces, the spokesman quoted Karapetyan as saying.
Deputy speaker of parliament, Eduard Sharmazanov, called Pashinyan's demand to negotiate with the ruling party in front of the press "absurd", saying this would play into the hands of Yerevan's foes Azerbaijan and Turkey. "Not only will protesters and the opposition be watching, but also (Azerbaijani president) Aliyev and (Turkish president) Erdogan," Sharmazanov said.
Pashinyan accused Sarkisian's ruling Republican Party of seeking to increase the turmoil and urged his supporters to stage new rallies to pile pressure on Karapetyan. "The fact that Karen Karapetyan refused to negotiate means that the Republican Party is in total disarray," Pashinyan told reporters on Friday.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2018

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