YEREVAN, APRIL 19, ARMENPRESS. “I treat obsequiousness very negatively, but I also treat negatively people who are unfairly chanting, defaming and distorting what others have said”, Prime Minister of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said in an interview to SHANT TV.

“I am sure there is nobody in the country who likes obsequiousness, but is it really obsequiousness when a party or executive bodies of a party unanimously decide to nominate someone – in this given case me – as a candidate for Prime Minister?  In this case I have to say the following – then how should governance be implemented?”

The interviewer argued that there were no other politicians other than Sargsyan among the ruling Republican Party who were fit for office of PM, to which the Prime Minister responded by saying that in this specific case the HHK (Republican Party) decided to nominate his candidacy, and didn’t rule out that there can be others within the party who are suitable for the job.

“Ask the participants of all these consultations whether there have been other opinions, whether there has been any compulsion. Certainly not, it was [the party’s] decision. And it is not understandable why our party can’t have this right. Is this a violation of any law? Is there a breach on any law here? No, there isn’t. Those who think so could have garnered more votes during the elections and nominate their preferred candidate”, Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan said.

Mr. Sargsyan stressed that after any election, a group of people stands up and begins to disapprove the elected politicians and demand new elections.

“Will the country develop this way? Whoever doesn’t like, my advice is to patiently wait and see how the country is developing, then make conclusions, and if these conclusions don’t satisfy them let them cast their ballots during elections for someone else. And let them come and, as they themselves claim “enjoy” this office. Office isn’t an enjoyment for me. It [falsely] seems to them that it is”, Serzh Sargsyan said.

Opposition protests began in the Armenian capital of Yerevan a week ago.

The rallies are led by opposition lawmaker Nikol Pashinyan, who has called on his supporters to launch civil disobedience.

The rallies began with a sit-in at France Square in downtown Yerevan, followed by sporadic marches in the city streets. The protesters even began blocking intersections and shutting down traffic. The situation escalated when the crowd of protesters and MP Pashinyan himself breached into the headquarters of Public Radio of Armenia, demanding airtime on April 14.

Then on April 16, protesters and riot police clashed in a brief incident on Baghramyan Avenue – one of the main city streets housing the parliament, Constitutional Court and the Prime Minister’s residence.  The Yerevan Police Department (YPD) has called on the opposition crowd to refrain from illegal actions and to maintain public order.

YPD said they are entitled to detain protesters who are violating public order and to cease the illegal rally, because the demonstrations are violating the rights of others and endangering public safety.

The protesters largely ignored the YPD demands and continued the rally, initiating sit-ins outside governmental buildings, blocking traffic, obstructing public service staff from entering their offices, even deflating tires of official vehicles parked outside ministries.

About 100 demonstrators have been detained for misdemeanors. Several others have been placed under arrest for causing a brief riot earlier in central Yerevan.

English –translator/editor: Stepan Kocharyan