Armenian premier tells supporters to end protest, go home

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told his supporters, who gathered outside the country’s parliament in the capital Yerevan on Tuesday, to end their protest and go home, a TASS correspondent reported from the scene.

"Please, greet law-enforcement officers and go home. Counter-revolution in Armenia will fail," he said.

Pashinyan reiterated his pledge to resign in the coming days in order to speed up the dissolution of the parliament. He also said he would soon appoint new ministers instead of those he sacked on Tuesday.

Thousands of Pashinyan’s supporters gathered outside the country’s parliament on Tuesday following the adoption of a bill that complicates the procedure of dissolving the parliament. The bill, which heated up political tensions in the country, was approved by 61 lawmakers, representing not only the ruling-turned-opposition Republican Party of Armenia, but also the Prosperous Armenia and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (also known as ARF or Dashnaktsutyun), who are members of the incumbent coalition government.

Earlier in the day, Pashinyan said he was dismissing all governmental ministers and regional chiefs who are members of the Prosperous Armenia and ARF. The Prosperous Armenia currently has four governmental ministers and two governors in its ranks, and the ARF has two ministers and two governors. The country's president, Armen Sarkisyan, signed decrees to sack the six ministers on Wednesday night, his office said.

The Armenian prime minister also said that he would resign soon to speed up the process of dissolving the current parliament and holding early parliamentary polls, but will remain the acting head of the Armenian government.