Wall Street Journal: Armenian protest leader takes power under Russia’s shadow

Published May 8, 2018 at 7:18 pm

Armenian opposition supporters attend a rally in Yerevan on May 2, 2018, as popular anger exploded over the ruling party's rejection of opposition leader's premiership bid.Tens of thousands of Armenians on May 2, converged on the capital, blocking roads and government buildings, as popular anger exploded over the ruling party's rejection of opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan's premiership bid. In an unprecedented show of defiance, protesters paralysed Yerevan, with nearly all streets closed to traffic and many stores shut.

Photo by AFP

Armenia’s newly elected prime minister has promised sweeping changes to the thousands of protesters who rallied around his bid to unseat the country’s entrenched political elite. But there is one line he won’t cross for now: Armenia’s special relationship with Russia.

As demonstrators draped in Armenian flags erupted into applause, one-time opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan was chosen May 8 by the country’s parliament to lead the government, peacefully capping weeks of mass protests in the former Soviet state.