Acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has given the go-ahead to grant Armenian citizenship to Jirayr Sefilyan.

Sefilyan, who was born in Lebanon, fought in the Artsakh War and led a special unit in the battle to liberate the town of Shushi. A longtime political activist, Sefilyan was denied citizenship on several occasions.

Pashinyan writes, in a Facebook post, that he has authorized a number of documents in the filing process and that it remains for President Sarkissian to issue the order to grant Sefilyan citizenship.

Sefilyan is a member of the Founding Parliament initiative that opposed the regime of former Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.

Given that he lacked citizenship, Sefilyan wasn’t included on the Sasna Tzrer Pan-Armenian Party ticket as a candidate in the upcoming December 9 snap parliamentary election.