Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced today that he’s sacked Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Onik Gasparyan and that the decree has been sent to President Armen Sarkissian for his signature.

Gasparyan’s dismissal follows today’s statement by the General Staff calling on Pashinyan and his government to resign for misrule and incompetence.

Gasparyan and other senior commanders signed the statement which, in part, was triggered by Pashinyan’s firing of Gasparyan’s first deputy, Tiran Khachatrian, on Tuesday.

According to Article 139 of the Constitution, the President may return the relevant act within three days with his objections to the body submitting a proposal or requesting mediation. If the competent body (the Prime Minister) does not accept the objection, the President signs the relevant act or applies to the Constitutional Court.

The General Staff’s statement was welcomed by anti-Pashinyan protesters who rallied in Yerevan today.