YEREVAN - The Armenian Parliament Tuesday elected opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan as the country's prime minister.

In the second round of vote in the 105-seat parliament, 59 lawmakers backed Pashinyan's candidacy, with 42 voting against and four absent.

The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), which had thwarted Pashinyan's first bid for the prime minister hinted their support for his candidacy on Tuesday by saying "the country will have a new prime minister on May 8."

Protests were triggered after RPA chairman and Armenia's long-time leader Serzh Sargsyan who had been barred by the constitution from seeking another term as president became prime minister.

In a referendum in 2015, Armenia adopted constitutional changes to move the powers from the president to the prime minister.

Sargsyan was elected as prime minister on April 17. However, after six days in power, he was ousted amid mass protests on April 23.