YEREVAN, MAY 3, ARMENPRESS. The signatures necessary for nominating Yelk faction head Nikol Pashinyan’s candidacy for the Prime Minister of Armenia already exist, Yelk faction MP Ararat Mirzoyan said, reports Armenpress.

35 signatures were required for his nomination.

27 out of 31 MPs of the Tsarukyan faction of the Parliament have signed under the paper for nominating Pashinyan’s candidacy for PM. “Taking into account the votes of the ARF and Yelk, I think the signatures of our 27 MPs are enough in order to be able to nominate Nikol Pashinyan’s candidacy. Some of our MPs are abroad”, Naira Zohrabyan, Tsarukyan faction MP, told reporters. She stated that each political force must respect its words and views.

After nearly 9 hours of debates on electing a Prime Minister on May 1, with opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan being the sole candidate, the Armenian parliament failed to make the election as 56 lawmakers voted against and 45 lawmakers voted in favor.

Pashinyan was nominated by the opposition Yelk faction.

Two other factions – Tsarukyan and the ARF – have endorsed the opposition MP's candidacy.

Pashinyan needed at least 53 votes to be elected Prime Minister.

The second round of the election for Prime Minister will take place May 8, at 12:00 in the Armenian parliament.

In the second round, candidates nominated by at least one third of the total number of MPs are entitled to participate in the election. If a Prime Minister isn’t elected in the second round also, the parliament is dissolved by virtue of law.

Tsarukyan, ARF and Yelk factions announced endorsing Pashinyan’s candidacy. The ruling Republican Party (RPA) announced that they will not nominate a candidate for PM and will support the candidate nominated by the 1/3 of the total MPs.

English –translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan