Armenian Opposition Plans to Nominate Archbishop Mikael as PM

Armenia's opposition parliamentary bloc, aligned with former President Robert Kocharian, has announced its readiness to initiate impeachment proceedings against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The faction also plans to nominate Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan as its candidate for the premiership, The Caspian Post reports, citing TASS.

"Given the situation surrounding the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church and Archbishop Mikael, as well as the fact that MPs Hovik Aghazaryan and Hakob Aslanyan have already announced their intention to initiate a vote of no confidence [against Pashinyan] with Mikael Ajapahyan's candidacy - if he agrees - the Armenia faction declares that it will support the vote of no confidence with the signatures of 28 MPs from the faction," the bloc's statement reads.

Aslanyan and Aghazaryan are independent MPs who put forward Mikael’s candidacy. The archbishop is currently in detention, charged with calling for the overthrow of power. A total of 36 MP signatures are required to bring the issue to the parliament’s agenda. Six deputies belong to another opposition faction, I Have Honor, which has not yet commented on the matter.