Under Armenian law, such an initiative must be backed by least 36 members of the 107-seat National Assembly before it can be debated on the parliament floor. Deputies seeking to oust the government must also nominate their prime-ministerial candidate.
The two lawmakers, Hovik Aghazarian and Hakob Aslanian, offered another former Pashinian ally, Edmon Marukian, to be their candidate. Marukian accepted the offer and urged the two opposition groups represented in the parliament to join the “historic” initiative.
The Hayastan and Pativ Unem blocs hold 34 parliament seats between them, putting them in a position to force a parliament debate on the motion of no confidence. They did not immediately react to Aghazarian’s and Aslanian’s announcement.
The two blocs have been at odds in recent weeks over the idea of trying to unseat Pashinian through such a vote, which was floated by two well-known activists believed to be supporters of Pativ Unem leader Serzh Sarkisian. Senior Hayastan members have dismissed that initiative as unrealistic. The disagreements have added to tensions between the political forces.
It also remains to be seen whether Hayastan and Pativ Unem will agree to back Marukian, who was formally allied to Pashinian until a year ago. Marukian had been appointed as ambassador-at-large after his party fared poorly in snap elections held in 2021. He resigned in March 2024, saying that Pashinian’s strategy of resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict has been a complete failure and will not bring peace.
Pashinian’s party continues to enjoy a comfortable majority in the parliament. The opposition would have to win over at least 18 of its deputies in order to oust the government. A Civil Contract deputy, Kristine Poghosian, expressed confidence that none of her pro-government colleagues will vote for Aghazarian’s and Aslanian’s motion.
The two men staunchly supported Pashinian until their expulsions from the ruling party. They accused him of establishing authoritarian rule in the country and pledged to fight for regime change during a founding congress of their new party held in February.