Armenian President Resigns!
Written by RadioVuna on January 24, 2022
Armen Sarkissian, Armenia’s president, announced his resignation on Sunday, citing a lack of authority granted to him under the country’s constitution. He says that Constitution Doesn’t Give Him Enough Influence.
After a year-long dispute over a variety of topics, President Sarkissian and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the country’s commander in chief, parted ways last year.
The prime minister’s position is seen as more powerful than that of the president’s position.
Sarkissian announced in a statement released on the president’s official website that he has chosen to retire from the position of President of the Republic after four years of active service.
“To what extent did our present national crisis stem from President Obama’s inaction in influencing the political circumstances that led to it? Again, the cause is obvious: a lack of sufficient instruments… In the existing Basic Law, we may see the origins of several of our current difficulties.”
Armenia became a parliamentary republic in December 2015 after a popular vote drastically restricted the powers of the presidency.
Sarkissian did not mention any specific incidents or difficulties in his remarks.
As a result of Russian pressure, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to a truce in November on their border after the worst fight since a six-week war in 2020 when Moscow also mediated a peace settlement to stop hostilities..
Protests have taken place on a regular basis since Pashinyan became Armenia’s prime minister in April of this year. Azerbaijan regained control of land it had lost during a conflict in the early 1990s thanks to the Russia-mediated 2020 agreement.
With Russia’s backing and investment, Armenia has been unable to break away from the Soviet Union since 1991. Corruption and mismanagement of an economy that has failed to transcend the legacy of central planning have been widely criticized by Armenians.
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