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The new bill drafted by a lawmaker of the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia seeks to prevent the conduction of snap parliamentary elections and bring Armenia to a political crisis, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in a Facebook live. 

According to him, the point of the draft law proposing amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly is to allow the parliament sessions to be considered interrupted for various reasons. For instance, in the event of people blocking the National Assembly, the ongoing session can be declared interrupted and resume in a week or in six months.     

“The bill has been officially initiated by a Republican MP; I don’t want to unveil names but want to urge everyone not to forget about our principles of love and solidarity,” he said.

Pashinyan stresses all those who will voice support for the draw law will ‘declare a war to the people.’

“The bill was set for voting today in the afternoon. I held telephone conversations with [parliament Speaker] Ara Babloyan and [Republican MP] Vahram Baghdasaryan and warned them that unless the voting is at least cancelled I would be forced to address people and ask their support,” the PM said.

“I am glad the common sense won and the bill was not put up for a vote. I want to urge all the lawmakers not to escalate the domestic political situation. I expect this bill to be withdrawn from the agenda,” he added.   

He said that he is waiting for a final decision over the bill from the Republican party until late on Tuesday, but if the bill will be put up for a vote tomorrow, he will have to call on people to take to the streets.