One day after the collapse of Armenia’s de facto governing coalition, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Wednesday of trying to monopolize power.

Dashnaktsutyun also said that it never tried to scuttle pre-term parliamentary elections sought by Pashinian and is only objecting to their “hasty” conduct.

Pashinian reacted furiously after Dashnaktsutyun and another coalition partner, the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), helped the former ruling Republican Party pass on Tuesday a bill that could make it harder for him to force such elections before the end of this year. Addressing thousands of supporters in Yerevan, he alleged a “conspiracy against the Armenian people.”

Pashinian also sacked the six government ministers affiliated with Dashnaktsutyun and the BHK. Dashnaktsutyun said shortly afterwards that it itself has decided to pull out of his cabinet.

In a statement released the following day, the pan-Armenian party’s leadership insisted that the controversial bill is not aimed at thwarting the dissolution of the current Armenia parliament. “[Pashinian’s] desire to organize polling as soon as possible endangers the conduct of competitive elections and creates favorable conditions for the ruling political force,” it said.

“We are convinced that the false allegations of escalation of the situation, violation of agreements and conspiracy are attempts to deflect the public’s attention from the necessity to ensure free and competitive conditions for the elections,” read the statement.

“We are left to conclude that we are witnessing an ongoing attempt to establish political monopoly in Armenia under the guise of direct democracy,” charged Dashnaktsutyun.

The party, which has been particularly influential in the Armenian Diaspora, said at the same time that a “dialogue” between Pashinian and the parliamentary forces is still possible. “The right path to resolving the situation can be found through a political consensus,” it added.

Dashnaktsutyun was given two ministerial posts in the current cabinet despite having been part of the country’s previous government toppled by Pashinian-led mass protests in May. It signed up to the new government’s policy program which calls for the holding of early general elections by June 2019.

The program also says that the vote should follow major amendments to the Armenian Electoral Code aimed at guaranteeing its freedom and fairness. The Dashnaktsutyun leadership pointed to this fact in its statement.

Pashinian says that the elections must take place in December because of the continuing “political crisis” in the country.