YEREVAN, Jan 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Armenian President Armen Sarkissian announced that he is resigning his largely symbolic position, citing the inability of his office to influence policy during times of national crisis.
“I thought for a very long time and have decided to resign after four years of active work as president,” Sarkissian said in a statement, which added that “the president does not have the necessary tools to influence the important processes of foreign and domestic policy in difficult times for the people and the country”.
Sarkisian was at the centre of a domestic political crisis last year that erupted in the wake of a war between Armenia and its long-standing rival Azerbaijan for control of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The war, which left more than 6,000 dead, saw Russian peacekeepers deployed to the disputed mountainous region.
His role is largely ceremonial and executive power rests primarily with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Sarkisian and Pashinyan had disagreed over a decision to remove the chief of the military’s general staff in the wake of the war and amid protests that brought thousands onto the streets of the Caucasus nation.
“I hope that eventually the constitutional changes will be implemented and the next president and presidential administration will be able to operate in a more balanced environment,” the statement added.
Armenia’s constitution stipulates that the parliament — which is controlled by parties aligned with Pashinyan — should hold a vote to decide the next president within 35 days.
A former physics professor, Armen Sarkisian, was born in 1953 in the capital Yerevan. He served as prime minister between 1996-1997, according to an official biography, before being elected president in March 2018.
He was Armenia’s ambassador to the United Kingdom at the time he was elected president in March 2018 by the legislature with a large majority.
The announcement of Sarkisian’s resignation comes shortly after a visit to the United Arab Emirates after which his office announcement he would be taking a leave of absence to undergo medical checks, without providing details.
Armenia’s economy has struggled since the Soviet collapse and money sent home by Armenians abroad has aided the construction of schools, churches and other infrastructure projects, including in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenia has a large and politically powerful diaspora spread across the world in the wake of Ottoman-era massacres, and is now estimated at 10 million people mostly in Russia, the United States and France. — NNN-AGENCIES
