Armenia to choose new leader after protests forced out PM

Just three days after protests forced Serzh Sarksyan to resign as Armenia’s prime minister, the country’s parliament said Thursday it will hold a special session to choose a new leader on May 1, The Guardian reports.

Why it matters: This is a major victory for the opposition party, and opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan appears to be the favorite. But the ruling Republican party holds a majority of seats under acting prime minister Karen Karapetyan. Sargsyan, who served for more than a decade as the country’s president, sparked a wave of demonstrations after taking on the role of prime minister.