(8 May 2018) Protesters celebrated in triumph on April 23rd 2018 as Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan resigned unexpectedly.
Sargsyan apparently made the move to bring to an end massive anti-government protests.
Residents of the capital, Yerevan, poured out on the streets to celebrate the news, with people hugging and kissing each other while motorists honked their horns.
The surprise move, announced on his website, followed 10 days of protests in the capital against Sargsyan's appointment as prime minister.
The former president's move of office was part of a transition to a new governmental system that reduces the powers of the presidency and bolsters those of the premier.
Critics saw the move as an attempt to stay in power by Sargsyan, who served as president from 2008 until term limits forced him out in March.
Armen Sarkisian, a former prime minister and ambassador to Britain, was elected in his place.
Thousands of anti-government protesters have been rallying the streets of Yerevan since April 13, and Sunday's rally attracted some 50,000 demonstrators.
The protest leader was arrested on April 22nd after he met the prime minister for talks.
He was released April 23rd.
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Armenia's prospective next prime minister warned on May 1st that the country will be plunged into a deep political crisis if the ruling party fails to support his candidacy.
Opposition leader Nikol Pashinian, who has been nominated for prime minister, told lawmakers that Armenia will be swept up in a "political tsunami" if the ruling Republic party fails to support him.
The Armenian parliament is expected to vote on a new prime minister later Tuesday.
Pashinian is the only candidate but the chamber is controlled by the ruling party, and Pashinian needs their votes to win.
Pashinian led more than two weeks of anti-government protests that forced Serzh Sargsyan, who led Armenia as president for 10 years and was elected prime minister in mid-April, to resign.
The opposition in this Caucasus Mountains country saw Sargsyan's move into the prime minister's chair as an attempt to stay in power indefinitely.
Tens of thousands of people have packed the square outside Parliament to show their support for Pashinian.
The Elk or "Exit" opposition alliance formally announced Pashinian's nomination at the start of the session, and the opposition leader himself later took the floor to answer the deputies' question before the vote was to be held.
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The leader of the Armenian opposition, Nikol Pashinian, on May 2nd told the AP that the revolution's "most important goal is already achieved" and that the only way forward is for the ruling Republican Party to "fully recognise and without any condition" the victory of the protesters.
Pashinian warned the Republican Party that his supporters would not lose momentum following his defeat in parliament on May 1st, and said instead protests would continue to grow.
Opposition protesters on Wednesday blocked the road leading from Armenia's capital, Yerevan, to its airport, as well as several subway stations and government ministries after their leader called for a national strike.
The actions on May 2nd follow the parliament's rejection of a bid by Pashinian to become prime minister, and intensify the political turmoil that has gripped the country since mid-April.
Mass demonstrations forced Serzh Sargsyan to resign a week previously as prime minister just days after he was named to the post.
The parliament, where Sargsyan's Republican Party has a majority of seats, is to hold another vote on naming a prime minister next May 1st.
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