Armenia: President Armen Sarkissian resigns unable to influence political decisions

Armen Sarkissian has justified his resignation from the largely symbolic post of Armenian president due to the impossibility of influencing political decisions.

Here, during a speech at COP26 in Glasgow, November 2, 2021. © Adrian Dennis, AP

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

In a new twist in Armenia, President Armen Sarkissian announced his resignation on Sunday January 23.

Among the reasons that led him to leave his position, which is essentially ceremonial, he evokes the inability inherent in his function to " 

influence

 " the political life of his country.

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Armen Sarkissian explains in a long press release published on the website of the presidency.

The

Armenian head of state blames

the Constitution in part for the country's problems:

" 

We are in a paradoxical situation where the president must be the guarantor of the state without having a real tool

 " to act " 

on the important processes of foreign and domestic policy in difficult times

 ".

“ 

The president cannot have influence on issues of war or peace

 ,” he laments, more than a year after Armenia's defeat and the loss of territory to Azerbaijan.

As a result of this war, relations between the President and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian

deteriorated sharply

.

Armen Sarkissian notably

refused to sign the dismissal order for the army chief of staff

.

In his message, the president,

who has also served as prime minister

and ambassador to the United Kingdom, protests against a " 

reality in which the president cannot veto laws, which he considers bad for the people and the country

 " and expresses the hope that the Constitution will one day be amended for a better " 

balance

 " of powers.

►

To read also: 

Post-Soviet generation: Davit Sargsyan, the war in Nagorno-Karabakh as a legacy

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  • Armenia

  • Serge Sarkissian

  • Nikol Pashinyan