Accordingly, they ruled out Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s resignation demanded by the country’s two leading opposition blocs.
The Hayastan and Pativ Unem blocs began on Monday small-scale protests in preparation for mass demonstrations aimed at toppling Pashinian and preventing what they say are sweeping concessions to Azerbaijan planned by him.
Pashinian signaled earlier this month his administration’s readiness to recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity through a bilateral peace treaty. Critics say he is intent on helping Baku regain control of Karabakh. The premier’s political allies deny this.
Artur Hovannisian, a parliament deputy from Civil Contract, accused the opposition of exploiting the Karabakh issue for political purposes.
“This narrative ended after 2018,” Hovannisian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “They are now trying to revive it because they have no legitimate source of coming to power -- namely, the people’s support -- because we can see that their actions are not accompanied by strong support from citizens.”
Hrachya Hakobian, another pro-government lawmaker and Pashinian’s brother-in-law, also said that the opposition forces will fail to unseat the current government.
“The [average] guy sitting at home and following their actions hears only negative messages and will not participate in those actions,” he said.
Both lawmakers rejected any parallels between the ongoing opposition campaign and the 2018 mass protests that brought Pashinian to power.
Meanwhile, large groups of opposition members and supporters staged “awareness marches,” blocked streets and entered university campuses in Yerevan for the fourth consecutive day. Riot police stepped up arrests of protesters as they unblocked traffic through those streets.
A spokesman for the Armenian police said that about 40 persons were detained by late afternoon. They were expected to be set free a few hours later.
“We must achieve the final result,” Hayastan’s Gegham Manukian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service as he led a group of supporters that began marching to Yerevan from Armavir province in the morning.
“We must defend Artsakh,” he said. “We must defend Armenia and restore our security by ousting these authorities because these authorities are not capable of doing anything anymore.”
The opposition is scheduled its first major rally in Yerevan on Sunday.
