Life in the Armenian capital Yerevan came to standstill on Wednesday as tens of thousands of people complied with opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan’s call for civil disobedience following his failed bid to become interim prime minister. Protesters blocked key transport links and government buildings, as popular anger exploded over the ruling partys rejection of Pashinyans premiership bid on Tuesday. In an unprecedented show of defiance, protesters including many elderly people and housewives paralyzed Yerevan, with nearly all streets closed to traffic and numerous stores shut, AFP correspondents reported. Officials said that suburban train services were disrupted and the road linking Yerevan with its airport was blocked. Because of the blockade of the road to Zvartnots Airport by about 300 young demonstrators and their cars, many travelers were forced to take long walks with their luggage to reach their flights. Pashinian and about 3,000 of his supporters marched to the center of Yerevan. The parliament will hold a fresh vote for PM on May 8 Crowds of protesters across the city of one million people waved national flags, blew vuvuzelas and shouted "Free, independent Armenia!". Pashinyan pledged to ramp up pressure on the authorities. "Various scenarios are under discussion, under each scenario the people will win," said Pashinyan who was wearing his trademark khaki-colored T-shirt and a baseball cap. The subway and railroads have been paralyzed and a number of universities and schools have joined the protest movement, he added. In parliament, lawmakers could not convene for a session due to the absence of a quorum, with the Prosperous Armenia party declaring a boycott. "There is an emergency situation in the country. Our faction declares a political boycott," said Prosperous Armenia lawmaker Vahe Enfiajyan. According to legislation, parliament should again gather in a week to try and elect a prime minister. If it fails, the legislature will be dissolved and early elections called. Armenian president Armen Sarkissian, meanwhile, called for talks to take place this week to resolve the political crisis. "I deeply regret that the political crisis continues despite the fact that everyone is talking about how dangerous it is for the future of the country," Sarkissian said, in a statement published by his press service. "I call for consultations to be continued this coming week, to find a way out of the crisis," he said. Interim Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan echoed his demand, calling on all political forces to sit at the negotiations table to resolve the crisis. "We all recognize the need for civilized, practical and fast decisions to resolve the political crisis, however hard that may seem," Karapetyan said in a statement. In the second city of Gyumri -- which hosts a Russian military base -- and the smaller town of Maralik, demonstrators occupied the mayors offices, demanding the local authorities join the protest movement. Pashinyan urged Armenians to launch a general strike after the ruling Republican Party on Tuesday shot down his bid for prime minister following two weeks of anti-government protests that ousted veteran leader Serzh Sarkisian. Protesters said they would stay on the streets for as long as it takes to oust the ruling elites from power and get Pashinyan elected premier. "The people will not give up, protests will not subside," Sergey Konsulyan, a 45-year-old businessman, told AFP. Student Gayane Amiragyan, 19, added: "We will win because we are united, the whole Armenian people are united." Parliament voted 45 in favor to 55 against Pashinyan, with the Republican Party headed by Sarkisian saying he was not a suitable candidate for the top job. Pashinyans failure to get elected has plunged the Moscow-allied nation of 2.9 million people into uncertainty, with observers expressing concern that the turmoil could destabilize the country and the wider region. Pashinyan has ruled out any possibility of clashes between protesters and police. But the risk of violence has not been lost on politicians in a country locked in a decades-long territorial dispute with Azerbaijan. Pashinyan -- who was the sole candidate in the running for prime minister -- had been thought to be just a handful of votes short of a majority in parliament and was widely expected to get elected. Ahead of the vote, the Republicans said they would not stand in the way of his candidacy but they withheld their support during Tuesdays vote, excoriating Pashinyan during the nail-biting extraordinary session.