Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced the June 20 elections last month to try to resolve political tensions that arose after last year''s defeat in a war with Azerbaijan.
Under a cease-fire signed by Pashinyan, Armenia ceded large swaths of territory in and around the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan that had been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces since the end of a separatist war in 1994.
The agreement sparked large protests calling for Pashinyan''s ouster that persisted for months.
Under Armenian law, snap elections can be held after a premier resigns and the parliament fails twice to choose a new one.
“If the people decide that I should leave the prime minister''s post, I will obey that decision,” Pashinyan said Sunday in announcing his resignation. He will continue to act as the the country''s leader until the election.
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