On 4 March, the leader of the parliamentary opposition party, Bright Armenia Edmon Marukyan stated that no consensus had been reached with the country’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on holding snap elections in the country.

“We held negotiations and in essence, the prime minister does not tie the issue of chief of the general staff with the process of snap elections,” Marukyan told the reporters after the meeting. “But we do tie, as we see that the issue of the general staff has added to the already existing crisis in the country. As of the moment we do not have any agreement over any issue. As far as I understand, a meeting with our colleague from the Prosperous Armenia (BHK) [Gagik Tsarukyan] is also expected. The processes cannot advance with only our position and the parliament cannot be dissolved,” he added, emphasising that after the meeting with BHK new negotiations will be held. He also said that there was a clear understanding that it is necessary to find ways for taking the country out of this situation.

The spokesperson of the US State Department Ned Price tweeted that the current situation in the country is under “close monitoring” by the US. “We are closely monitoring continuing political tensions in Armenia. We urge all parties to exercise restraint and avoid any escalatory or violent actions. We encourage Armenia's leaders to resolve their differences peacefully and respect the rule of law and democratic processes,” he wrote. 

Meanwhile, Armenia’s former President Robert Kocharyan gave an interview where he spoke on the current situation in the country. He stated that he does not plan  to spearhead the Homeland Salvation Movement in which his Republican party (HHK) is a member. “The opposition has developed a format and there is no sense in changing it. It has managed to consolidate around itself a noticeable part of our society. I support this format and I don’t think it needs to be revised. Vazgen Manukyan is a worthy man, and he is ready to serve as interim prime minister for a year, if everything goes according to the opposition’s plan,” he stated. 

While speaking on the current standoff between the Army and Pashinyan, Kocharyan emphasised that this was a sign that the current government was hindering the strengthening and restoration of the army. According to him, after the scandalous story on the Russian-made Iskander missile system (Caucasus Watch reported), Pashinyan should apologise to the army feneral staff, and personally to Tiran Khachatryan, who he sacked (Caucasus Watch reported). 

Touching upon the matter of dismissal of the Chief of the General Staff Onik Gasparyan, Kocharyan explained that incumbent President Armen Sarkissian has three options to act within the framework of the Constitution. “The first option is that the president agrees with Pashinyan's proposal to dismiss Gasparyan and signs it. And the second, the president does not sign the decree, but it enters into force. Third, he tries to find a solution in the legal field,” he said.  

Commenting on Armenia’s defeat in the recent Nagorno-Karabakh war, Kocharyan stressed that one of the reasons was the attacks on the army. “Attacks on the army, the generals, were following each other, repeating regularly for three years,” he said. He also expressed his beliefs that the defeat in the war was planned. “It is not normal when the government cannot give any reasonable explanation. For example, why was the general mobilisation—which presupposed the replenishment of the armed forces—stopped on the third day of the war? Why did the prime minister not accept on 19 October [Russia’s President] Vladimir Putin's proposal, knowing on the fourth day of the war that we would lose the war, as it was reported by the general staff?” Kocharyan said. 

Kocharyan also said that the events from March 2008 were a “child's babble” in comparison to what happens now in the country. “We have been living in a state of emergency and martial law for a year now. The Nagorno-Karabakh war has stopped for four months already, whereas there is [still] a martial law in Armenia. And the whole point is not to allow the parliament to express no confidence toward the prime minister,” he said, adding that a reasonable question arises as to whether or not this is an overthrow of the constitutional order.

Finally, Armenia’s former president also elaborated on his statement from 7 January, where he called for a deeper regional integration between Armenia and Russia (Caucasus Watch reported). “Turkey's influence in the region is growing. We [Armenia], as a military-political ally of Russia, lost the recent Nagorno-Karabakh war, and Azerbaijan, as an ally of Turkey, won. I believe we need to find a formula for integration with Russia that will allow us to quickly restore our armed forces. The Armenian authorities, hiding behind military secrets, are not talking about the scale of material and human losses in the war,” he said, and added that according to experts, about $3 billion is needed to restore the Armenian army. “It is necessary to restore the Armed Forces as the most combat-ready army in the region,” he stated.

It should be noted that parallel to Kocharyan’s interview with “Sputnik Armenia,” the spokesperson of Russia’s President Dmitry Peskov held an interview with RIA Novosti, where he described Kocharyan as a “friendly” politician. Peskov considered it absurd to think that he would coordinate his actions with Moscow on his desire to participate in the political life of Armenia. According to Peskov, Kocharyan is a staunch supporter of benefits for Armenia. “He is a man who has put a lot of effort into the development of his country,” Peskov added.