Armenian protest leader Nikol Pashinian said on Friday that the opposition would probably boycott any snap parliamentary election unless parliament made him the interim prime minister next week.
Parliament is due to choose a new interim premier next week and Pashinian has said he is the only legitimate choice for the job even though he is not a member of the ruling party which has a majority of seats in parliament.
Armenian politicians have spoken of holding a snap parliamentary election once a new interim premier is in place.
Armenia's acting prime minister Karen Karapetian and protest leader Pashinian were expected to meet at noon to discuss the political crisis that has gripped the landlocked former Soviet nation, but Karapetian's office announced Friday morning that it called off the talks because Pashinian was "dictating the agenda."
Pashinian's protest movement holds just a fraction of seats at the parliament while Karapetian's party has a majority.
Karapetian became acting prime minister after his ally, longtime ruler Serzh Sargsyan, stepped down on Monday following nearly two weeks of anti-government protests. The parliament is set to vote next week on the new prime minister.
The opposition wants a transfer of power that would ensure that Sargsyan's allies would not be present in the new government, for fear that he would pull the strings behind the scenes.
A protest rally earlier this week nominated Pashinian for prime minister, and he told another gathering on Thursday that either he will be elected prime minister "or there won't be a prime minister in Armenia."
Pashinian reacted to the breakdown of the talks with Karapetian on Friday by telling reporters that his movement has "the key mandate — that of the Armenian people — the parliament has to accept people's will."
Pashinian called on his supporters to rally outside the parliament on Tuesday to show their support.
Despite winning two landslide presidential victories before becoming prime minister, Sargsyan was unpopular because of the perceived nepotism and corruption of his inner circle, and the protests that began two weeks ago represent the nation's deep frustration with his rule.
Several hundred people rallied in the center of the capital Yerevan on a warm and sunny Friday morning to show their support for the opposition.
"We're not going to go and we'll continue to protest until this government goes," said 42-year-old schoolteacher Armen Zarubyan. "Authorities couldn't care less for people's opinion but we have already showed our strength."
Yerevan-based political analyst Agaron Adibekyan told The Associated Press that Karapetian's refusal to negotiate shows that authorities are confident of their ability to stay in power.
"Authorities decided to drag their feet so that the opposition will get tired and the protests die down," he said. "It's the opposition that needs these talks — authorities are controlling the country and have a majority in the parliament."
