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An opposition rally demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's resignation resumed at the Liberty Square in Yerevan on Wednesday evening.

The protests organized by 17 opposition parties were sparked by a Russia-brokered agreement between the Armenian and Azerbaijan leaders to end the war in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). They accuse Pashinyan of capitulating to Azerbaijan and signing a “treacherous” deal.

Addressing protesters, ARF Supreme Body member Gegham Manukyan accused the premier of failing to take action after Chief of General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces Onik Gasparyan called for measures to end the war given the country’s limited resources and serious situation at a Security Council meeting on the fourth day of the war.

National Agenda Party leader Ara Hakobyan stated Pashinyan continues to divide people into groups in the country. “We will not allow it. The first step should be for the prime minister to leave. You brought him, thus it’s for you to remove him from office,” he said, addressing protesters.

The opposition figure stressed the need to improve Armenia’s relations with the outside world. “Therefore, the person who signed the capitulation document should not stay. New people should start communicating and negotiating with our strategic partners. The political forces want to change the situation, they have a roadmap, Nikol Pashinyan must leave for it to be implemented.

“Together with you, we must form a government of national accord, to be followed by snap elections. We must join our efforts to resolve this problem. We can do it,” he said.

Public and political figure Mihran Hakobyan told reporters at the square that the longer Nikol Pashinyan remains in power, the more territories will be handed over and more people will be deprived of their homes.

“The people who blocked streets at the time should ask themselves whether they delegated him to hand over the lands and sell Shushi. For the first time in the past 100 years, the Armenian statehood is on its knees and capitulated. It’s all on Nikol Pashinyan.

“Nikol Pashinyan should not be the Armenian prime minister. There is no political force in Armenia, even the president has understood that Nikol Pashinyan can no longer hold the PM’s office," he said, adding the situation can be corrected at some extent through negotiations conducted by a new leader.