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27 out of 31 lawmakers from Tsarukyan Alliance, Armenia's second largest parliamentary faction, have signed the petition to nominate Yelk faction head Nikol Pashinyan as Armenia’s prime minister, Naira Zohrabyan, an MP of Tsarukyan Alliance, told a briefing at the parliament on Thursday.

The lawmaker added that some of the MPs of Tsarukyan Alliance were absent at today’s session due to being abroad, but she is convinced the collected signatures are enough to nominate Pashinyan for the post together with the signatures of Yelk and Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Dashnaktsutyun faction MPs.

Asked whether Pashinyan is likely to be elected to the top government office during the second round of elections scheduled for May 8 given the fact the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) voted down his bid for PM during the first election, Zohrabyan expressed hope that the change in the Republicans’ stance stems from the ‘sober understanding’ to refrain from going against the people’s will.  

She cited the Republican faction’s statement on Wednesday, which implies they will support the PM candidate to be nominated by one-third of the total number of parliamentarians.

Noting that it is not possible to be totally sure of something in politics, she meantime stressed “any political force should honor its word and viewpoint".