The 2018 Armenian Revolution, most commonly known in Armenia as #MerzhirSerzhin (Armenian: #ՄերժիրՍերժին, lit. '#RejectSerzh'), was a series of anti-government protests in Armenia from April to May 2018 staged by various political and civil groups led by a member of the Armenian parliament – Nikol Pashinyan (head of the Civil Contract party). Protests and marches took place initially in response to Serzh Sargsyan's third consecutive term as the most powerful figure in the government of Armenia, later broadening against the ruling Republican Party, who were in power since 1999. Pashinyan declared it a Velvet Revolution (Թավշյա հեղափոխություն, T'avshya heghap'vokhut'yun).
On April 22, Pashinyan was arrested and held in solitary confinement overnight, then released on April 23, the same day that Sargsyan resigned, saying "I was wrong, while Nikol Pashinyan was right". The event is referred to by some as a peaceful revolution akin to revolutions in other post-Soviet states. By the evening of April 25, the Republican Party's coalition partner, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, had withdrawn from the coalition.
By April 28, all of the opposition parties in Armenia's parliament had announced they would support Pashinyan's candidacy. A vote was scheduled in the National Assembly for May 1; for Pashinyan to be elected prime minister, which required 53 votes, he would have had to win the votes of at least six members of the Republican Party. Pashinyan was the only candidate who was put forward for the vote. However, the Republican Party unanimously voted against Pashinyan – 102 MPs were present, out of which 56 voted against his candidacy and 45 voted for it. One week later, on May 8, the second vote took place. Pashinyan was elected prime minister with 59 votes.
The revolution was seen as an opportunity for Armenia to realign its foreign policy in the European direction. The revolution contradicted Russian policy, as it opposed the notion of the irreplaceability of post-Soviet leaders and posed a threat to authoritarianism in the post-Soviet space. The revolution in Armenia was deemed "European" in nature as it corresponded to European values and principles, both societal and political. The revolution signaled a significant shift in Armenia's domestic politics, with pro-Russian politicians being ousted from power and a reformist government taking their place. The change brought about a revaluation of Armenia's relations with Russia. The reformist government sought to distance itself from Russia's aggressive tactics and realign Armenia with the Western values of democracy and human rights.
Between 2012 and 2017, reported levels of trust in the national government were at 25%, while confidence in the judicial system was at 29%, figures which were below all of Armenia's neighbouring countries at the time.
Nomination of Sargsyan for the post of Prime Minister
Demonstrations and protests began in March 2018, when members of the Republican Party did not exclude the option of nominating Serzh Sargsyan for the prime minister's post. This meant a continuation of Sargsyan's rule (as either prime minister or president) since March 2007. He had amended the constitution in 2015 to remove term limits which would have prevented him doing this.
Protesters had vowed to block the party's headquarters on April 14, where leaders were going to gather to formally nominate Serzh Sargsyan for prime minister. The Republican Party held its meeting outside of the capital Yerevan and unanimously voted to formally nominate Serzh Sargsyan for the office of prime minister. The coalition partner, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, supported the ruling Republican Party's decision, as did most of the opposition Prosperous Armenia party caucus.
Meanwhile, the Way Out Alliance emerged as a pro-European and anti-Russian political alliance, which actively participated in street protests supporting Nikol Pashinyan following Serzh Sargsyan's nomination for prime minister. The alliance believed that Sargsyan was largely controlled by Moscow and labelled him a 'dictator' who rigged elections. Noting the rise of anti-Russian sentiments in the country, the alliance called for Armenia to develop closer ties with the European Union.
On March 31, 2018, Nikol Pashinyan began his Im Qayl (my step) protest walk, starting in the city of Gyumri, and walking through cities and towns such as Vanadzor, Dilijan, Hrazdan, and Abovyan, before finally reaching Yerevan on April 13 and holding a small rally.
About 100 protesters stayed overnight in France Square after the first day of protests, and an equal number did the same on Saturday night, some sleeping in tents, others gathered around fires. By Sunday morning, the Armenian police had made no effort to disrupt the demonstrations.
On Monday April 16, the "Take a Step, Reject Serzh" campaign began actions of civil disobedience. On April 17, the day that the prime minister's election was scheduled, the protesters intended to block entrances to the building of the National Assembly in order to prevent the vote from taking place. Lines of riot police stopped them from advancing further towards the National Assembly building.
After the election of the former president Serzh Sargsyan as the new prime minister, the protests continued to grow, despite hundreds of people being detained by police. The prime minister in response asked the government to take back the presidential mansion which it had given him a few weeks earlier. The crowds reached 50,000 on the night of April 21, with countless sporadic street closures in the capital, which also began to spread across the country.
As the crowds grew, the new prime minister called repeatedly for talks with the leader of the protest movement, Nikol Pashinyan, but Pashinyan said he was only willing to discuss the terms of the Prime Minister's resignation. After Pashinyan's rally was visited by the Armenian President on the evening of April 21 for a brief chat with Pashinyan, Pashinyan agreed to meet the prime minister at 10 am on April 22, saying he believed the topic would be Serzh Sargsyan's resignation.
The meeting, which lasted for a mere three minutes, failed to achieve anything, with Sargsyan walking out of it and accusing the opposition of "blackmail" when Pashinyan stated he had only agreed to discuss terms of the Prime Minister's resignation and nothing else. During the meeting, Sargsyan asked Pashinyan not to speak on behalf of the people and not to issue ultimatums to the government, given the low level of support for his political alliance (less than 10 percent of the vote in the past parliamentary elections). He also warned that Pashinyan had not "learned the lessons of March 1", a reference to the protestors killed by police while contesting the validity of the election results of Sargsyan's election 10 years earlier, amounting to an open threat of violence against the protesters gathering daily in around the nation.
Immediately after the meeting, Pashinyan led a group of supporters from the site of the meeting by Republic Square on a long march down Tigran Mets and Artsakh streets to the Erebuni district, where they were met by riot police and stun grenades as Pashinyan was detained followed by mass detentions of protestors, including opposition lawmakers Sasun Mikayelyan and Ararat Mirzoyan. Protests continue throughout the city. By the evening 232 protestors had been detained or arrested, and, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, tens of thousands gathered in Republic Square to continue to demand the resignation of PM Serzh Sargsyan. The police issued a statement saying that Pashinyan, Mikaelyan and Mirzoyan had been detained for 72 hours; however criminal charges could only be brought against them if the Republican-controlled National Assembly stripped them of their parliamentary immunity.
Protests resumed on April 23, with media outlets reporting that former and current members of the Armenian armed forces, including participants of the 2016 April War, have joined in the rallies for the first time. This information was later confirmed by the Ministry of Defence.