Armenia’s Parliament Speaker Assumes Powers of the President

By Emilio Luciano Cricchio

The Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Alen Simonyan has signed a protocol regarding the termination of the powers of President Armen Sarkissian. Until a new president is elected and inaugurated, Simonyan will exercise the powers of the president.

President Armen Sarkissian announced his resignation unexpectedly on January 23.

According to the Armenian Constitution, the president’s resignation is submitted to parliament, and is only considered accepted once a protocol is signed by the speaker.

Yesterday, it became clear that the ruling Civil Contract party intends to nominate the Minister of High-Tech Industry and former Yerevan Mayor Vahagn Khachatryan as a presidential candidate.

What comes next?

Snap presidential elections must be held not earlier than 25 and no later than 35 days following the resignation of the president. A presidential candidate must be nominated by at least one quarter of the total number of parliamentary deputies, and must be nominated five days after the president’s resignation.

The candidate who receives at least three quarters of the total number of votes of the deputies is elected president.

The president is elected for a term of seven years.