Protests escalate over PM nomination dispute in Armenian capital

YEREVAN, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Protests led by Armenian opposition MP and leader of Civil Contract Party Nikol Pashinyan were held in the Amenian capital city Yerevan on Monday.

The protests are aimed at blocking the country's former president's return to power in the new role of the all-powerful prime minister.

The protests have left the nation's capital paralyzed for the fourth day with protesters blocking main roads in Yerevan and disrupting public transportation thus calling on people to voice dissent to what they described as Serzh Sargsyan's third term in office.

Sargsyan, who completed his second and final five-year term as Armenian president on April 9, oversaw the country's transition from a semi-presidential system of governance to a parliamentary system.

The protests have been mainly held at the French Square in downtown Yerevan. Though Monday also saw major roads in the center of the capital being blocked by demonstrators.

Scuffles and brief clashes took place with police during the second half of Monday when protestors decided to march on the parliament.

Police fired stun grenades and used barbed wires to stop the protestors, leaving several people wounded, after thousands of opposition supporters began to march toward parliament in Yerevan.

Armen Sarkissian, new president with largely ceremonial roles, was sworn in on April 9, and now with Karen Karapetyan's caretaker government running the country, the National Assembly of Armenia will move to elect a new prime minister on Tuesday.

Serzh Sargsyan's ruling Republican Party and their junior coalition partners Armenian Revolutionary Federation hold a comfortable majority in the parliament and no electoral hurdles are expected on Sargsyan's path to the premiership.

On Monday, the country's police released a warning publicly, demanding opposition leader Pashinyan stop the rallies and disruption of "public order" in the capital, otherwise the "use of force" would be applied to disperse the crowds.

Meanwhile, Pashinyan called everyone to join them on Tuesday, April 17, to block all the streets leading to Parliament, so the MPs are not able to gather and cast their vote for a new prime minister of Armenia. Enditem