Armenia PM says open to early elections to end crisis

Addressing thousands of supporters in Yerevan, Nikol Pashinyan proposes referendum on new constitution and snap polls.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he would be ready to hold snap parliamentary elections if the opposition agreed to certain conditions, as thousands joined rival street rallies in the capital Yerevan on Monday. Pashinyan, in power since 2018 in the ex-Soviet republic of less than three million people, is facing a crisis after the army last week demanded he step down, prompting him to decry a coup attempt and try to sack the army’s top general. Speaking to thousands of supporters who rallied in the centre, Pashinyan proposed holding a referendum in October to adopt a new constitution and said snap elections were possible under certain conditions.