News - Speaker: Armenia legislature council will reject opposition factions’ demand to hold special session

They have come, are saying: "Give the power you got in 2021 to Bagrat Galstanyan. We have our candidate for prime minister.” There is a prime minister who has the support of the people. Speaker of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia, Alen Simonyan, told this to reporters in the NA Monday—and referring to the opposition movement led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan. "The [regular parliamentary] elections are in 2026. These people do not learn from their mistakes. Now, whoever gathers 10 or 20 thousand people on the street, should come and nominate a candidate for the new prime minister? Are you serious?" added Simonyan. When asked how many people should be on the street in order to talk about the new prime minister candidate, Simonyan responded: "I am not engage in counting people. I say that there is no such demand in Armenia. When people want to change the power, they go to elections. (…)" To the question whether they are going to reject the parliamentary opposition’s proposal to convene a special session of the NA, Alen Simonyan answered: "And why should we not reject? Should they change people once a year, come back to say the same thing? (…)" "I respect people who come and complain about something. Not all people can have the same opinion. But when it has already become obvious that the actors are exactly the same, name by name, I consider this a power struggle, a chair fight, an attempt to restore property, and I treat it categorically," added Simonyan. To the question of what the Armenian authorities are going to do, he responded: "Nothing: There will be an election [of parliament], and people, if they think that the [ruling] Civil Contract [Party] does not fulfill this, this, this, this, they will go, vote for the [political] force that will offer them something. And has the opposition fulfilled a percentage of its announced agenda?"