MOSCOW. Armenian President Armen Sarkissian resigned on Sunday, saying he believes the country’s constitution does not give him sufficient authority to influence events.
Sargsyan, president since 2018, was at odds with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan last year over a number of issues, including the dismissal of the head of the armed forces.
The role of the prime minister is seen as more influential than that of the president.
“I have been thinking for a long time, I have decided to resign from the post of the President of the Republic after active work for about four years,” Sargsyan said in a statement published on the President’s official website.
“The question may arise why the President was unable to influence the political events that led us to the current national crisis. The reason is again obvious – the lack of appropriate tools … – the Constitution. Some of our potential problems are rooted in the current Basic Law.”
In a referendum in December 2015, Armenia became a parliamentary republic, while presidential powers were significantly curtailed.
Sargsyan did not directly touch upon any specific events or issues in his statement.
Armenia agreed to a ceasefire with Azerbaijan last November on their border after Russia urged them to abandon confrontation following the deadliest clash since the six-week war in 2020, when Moscow also brokered a cease-fire peace deal.
Since then, Prime Minister Pashinyan has come under pressure, with regular street protests demanding his resignation over the terms of the peace deal. Under a 2020 deal brokered by Russia, Azerbaijan regained control of the territory it lost during the war in the early 1990s.
Armenia left the Soviet Union in 1991 but remains dependent on Russian aid and investment. Many Armenians blame the government for corruption and mismanagement of the economy, which is struggling to overcome the legacy of central planning.
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