In a stunning reversal, the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) now says it will pull out of a political rally it had scheduled for this Friday along with the Armenian National Congress and the Heritage Party.

In its statement, released today, the BHK says its decision to call off the rally is due to the Yerevan Municipality not sanctioning it and to prevent an escalation of an already tense political situation in the country.

The BHK says it will continue to explore all legal avenues to “defend the interests of the people and to extricate ourselves from the current situation.”

Just five days ago, the leaders of the three opposition parties had called for a pan-national rally after meeting to discuss what they refered to as the “emergency internal political situation”