President elected by parliament is president of all, Sarkissian tells opposition

A president elected by the parliament is not the president of a certain party, but is the president of the Republic of Armenia.

The comment was made by presidential candidate Armen Sarkissian during parliamentary debates on the election of the 4th President of Armenia, in response to a question from opposition party Yelk MP Ararat Mirzoyan whether or not he agrees that if elected he will bear responsibility of certain previous actions of the ruling party, actions for which the society has reservations towards the party.

“the Republican Party of Armenia and the Dashnaktyutyun [party] nominated my candidacy, the Tsarukyan alliance has endorsed my candidacy, I am non-partisan, and you are the one who will vote. I interpret the Constitution in the following way – the president elected by the National Assembly is the President of the Republic of Armenia, not the president of this or that party,” Sarkissian said.

He added that he will be proud if one day he will be considered the president of both members of the Republican Party and members of the Yelk party.

Earlier in January Armen Sarkissian, Armenia’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, was offered by incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan, who also serves as President of the country’s ruling Republican Party, to be the party’s candidate for the upcoming presidential elections. Sarkissian initially requested a brief period of time for pondering the offer, and in the meanwhile held various meetings with political parties, civil society representatives, Diaspora structures and others, and subsequently agreed to be nominated.

 Few days later the HHK and the ARF, the ruling coalition, officially nominated Sarkissian’s candidacy for the presidential election.

The election will take place March 2 in the parliament.