Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan was grilled today by MPs at today’s parliamentary Q&A session. Opposition MPs questioned him about public calls for his resignation.

Bright Armenia (Lusavor Hayastan) MP Gevorg Gorisyan asked Pashinyan he could effectively negotiate on behalf of Artsakh given the degree to which he is mocked by the press and government circles in Russia and Azerbaijan.

“We see disrespect for you in the media of our strategic ally. I'm ashamed to see all that, aren't you ashamed?" Gorisyan asked Pashinyan.

Pashinyan responded that this phenomenon is not new, in Azerbaijan but also in Armenia. The Armenian PM said he continues serving in the post within the mandate given by the people.

"Our biggest problem is to see that people's power in Armenia will not be endangered under any scenario. I consider it the biggest thing our government has to do today," Pashinyan said.

Bright Armenia faction head Edmon Marukyan responded that Pashinyan was manipulating the people's trust in him and his popularity numbers had significantly dropped since signing the November 9 ceasefire. 

Marukyan, whose party has urged Pashinyan to resign, said the other minority party represented in the parliament, Prosperous Armenia, the former presidents of Armenia, the two Armenian Catholicoi, mayors, Yerevan Municipal Council members, the YSU Academic Council and other officials have echoed that demand.

Pashinyan responded that if there is overwhelming public sentiment for him to resign, why doesn’t the opposition parliamentary factions call for snap elections, rather than floating other scenarios that deprive the people any say in the process.

A coalition of some sixteen political parties, not including Bright Armenia, have also called for Pashinyan’s resignation, and have launched a campaign of civil disobedience to oust him from power.

Pashinyan said these parties will restore the mechanisms of election fraud.

Ruling My Step (Im Kayl) MP Armen Khachatryan inquired about the Armenia-Azerbaijan border demarcation.

Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan said an interdepartmental group is currently working along the entire border.  

"The legal border between Armenia and Azerbaijan has not been finalized. Negotiations will take place in the coming weeks. As for the actual deployment of the armed forces, now we have representatives of the armed forces in different areas within the village of Tegh, as well as across the border. The final deployments will take place as a result of agreements and negotiations," Avinyan said.

Avinyan said no Armenia had not “handed over” any land to Azerbaijan and that the legal border must be accepted by the parties through a final document.

Independent MP Taguhi Tovmasyan, a former member of the My Step faction, inquired why the villagers had been left to fend for themselves in border demarcation negotiations with the Azerbaijanis and whether maps dating to the late 1920s would be used as a basis.

Avinyan responded that those maps will be taken as a basis, but other legal documents will be discussed in the negotiations.

Referring to the Sotk gold mine, Avinyan said that there were some adjustments, and that Armenian troops were currently more precisely positioned.

Avinyan said the mine’s administrative building is on the Armenian side of the new border with Azerbaijan. A part of the mine was in the Kashatagh district of Artsakh, a region handed over to Azerbaijan.

Avinyan said there are legal documents for the operation of the mine, which will be discussed in this negotiation process.

Bright Armenia MP Taron Simonyan asked Pashinyan if he signed the November 9 ceasefire document voluntarily or under duress.

Pashinyan responded that he had provided detailed explanations regarding the circumstances of the signing and that he had nothing to add.

"Our biggest task is that in all these processes the people of Armenia will not lose their right to form a government, to express their free will for any reason,” he said.

My Step MP Gevorg Papoyan asked whether there was any new information on the exchange of POWs.

Avinyan said the listing verification process is underway in both countries and that once the lists are approved there will be an exchange on the “all for all” principle.

As for the search for the missing, Avinyan said the search continues and that 846 bodies have been withdrawn from the battlefield since November 10.

Prosperous Armenia MPs didn't attend the QA&A session.