At a plenary session, the National Assembly of Armenia canceled the martial law in the country, which was introduced at the end of September last year due to the hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh. Sputnik Armenia reports.
118 deputies voted for the abolition of martial law, one against, and one more abstained.
The draft decision on the abolition of martial law was proposed by the opposition factions “Prosperous Armenia” and “Enlightened Armenia”.
On the eve, the Chairman of the National Assembly Ararat Mirzoyan stated that in the light of the announcement of early parliamentary elections, “in the near future the government itself should have initiated the process of lifting martial law”. Therefore, Mirzoyan offered to vote for this project.
Earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that early parliamentary elections in the country would be held on June 20. According to Deputy Speaker Alain Simonyan, Pashinyan will remain at the head of the government until the elections.
The political crisis in Armenia and protests demanding Pashinyan's resignation began immediately after the signing of a joint statement with the leaders of Russia and Azerbaijan on the cessation of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh on November 10, 2020. Under this agreement, Baku gained control over part of the territories of Karabakh. Scientists, cultural figures, Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, three former presidents of Armenia, as well as the command of the General Staff called for Pashinyan's resignation.
The Armenian authorities introduced martial law on September 27 last year, when the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh escalated.
