Less than 4 years in office – Armenian President Sarkissian resigns – News

  • Armenia’s President Armen Sarkissian has announced his resignation. He has been in office since spring 2018.
  • After much deliberation, he decided to resign as President of the Republic, the Armenpress agency quoted the 68-year-old as saying.
  • A president has too little power to achieve fundamental changes for the country, he justified his decision.

“This is absolutely not an emotional decision, but corresponds to a certain logic,” said Sarkissyan. The President does not have “the necessary instruments to influence the fundamental processes of domestic and foreign policy in the difficult time for the country”.

The President had criticized Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, especially in the course of the war over Nagorno-Karabakh in the South Caucasus. The ex-Soviet republic lost control of large parts of the region in autumn 2020. Azerbaijan, on the other hand, celebrated a victory. At the time, Sarkissian criticized the fact that he had not been included in the negotiations.

He later expressed objections to Pashinyan’s reappointment of the Armenian military leadership. Sarkissian was also Prime Minister of Armenia in his political career. The president also said of the reasons for his resignation: “In this difficult time for our state, in which national unity is required, the institution of the president should not become the subject of gossip and conspiracy theories.” It was initially unclear who would become Sarkissjan’s successor.

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