The Associated Press: Each day he stays on the job raises a new threat to the nation – Artur Vanetsyan

The Associated Press agency referred to the protest rally outside the parliament building today in Armenia’s capital.

The agency says Nikol Pashinyan’s opponents are angry at a peace deal that ended six weeks of fighting over Nagorno Karabakh which saw Azerbaijan take over wide areas.

The agency reminds that Armenia’s opposition parties gave Pashinyan an ultimatum to resign by Tuesday, but he has ignored the demand, defending the peace deal as a bitter but necessary move that prevented Azerbaijan from overrunning the entire Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The AP said the Armenian prime minister told lawmakers in parliament Wednesday that the nation needs consolidation in the current difficult period.

“Voices of different groups mustn’t be mistaken for the people’s voice,” he said.

The agency said speaking outside parliament, Artur Vanetsyan, the former head of the National Security Service who leads the Homeland opposition party, argued that Pashinyan should step down to allow opposition forces to “normalize the situation” in the country.

“Each day he stays on the job raises a new threat to the nation,” Vanetsyan said.