Has Pashinyan changed his mind about holding snap elections?

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has threatened the opposition that he will secure its support on the issue of adopting a new Constitution through public pressure.

According to him, the opposition does not agree with the idea of a new Constitution, but agrees that the decision should be made by the people.

"Yesterday, after the government question time in parliament, I became convinced that such an opportunity exists. We must make an offer that the opposition will not be able to refuse," the prime minister noted.

In particular, according to Pashinyan, when the time comes, he may declare that he guarantees peace in the event of a change to the Constitution. In that case, a vote by the opposition against it would mean a vote for war.

If the prime minister makes such a statement, he will put his political trust and mandate on the line as a guarantee.

Pashinyan once again emphasized that the rejection of the ideology of the Declaration of Independence is not connected with Azerbaijan or any other external factor. He is convinced that the people will defend this idea and ideology, and he himself sees no alternative to the institutionalization of peace.

"Will the opposition really vote against it if I declare that I guarantee: after the adoption of the constitutional amendments, a peace treaty will be signed and ratified? That would mean destroying themselves on the spot. The opposition cannot vote against in such a situation. If the opposition decides to do so, then a political process will begin," Pashinyan said.

In particular, the authorities may initiate protest actions, as a result of which the people will demand that the opposition vote for the constitutional amendments.

The prime minister claims that if this scenario does not work either, the current government will go to snap elections, if it is 100% certain that the current opposition will not be in the next parliament.

"If such a situation arises, then the current opposition will vote 'for' out of the instinct of self-preservation," he assured.

According to Pashinyan, after yesterday's government question time he came to the conclusion that if a week ago he considered holding snap elections one of the possible scenarios, now the probability of this has sharply decreased. The political process is leading to there simply being no need for it.

Source: Sputnik Armenia