Sargsyan to become Armenia's president

Armenia's President and head of the Republican Party, Serzh Sargsyan, at the meeting with Armen Sargsyan, the country’s ambassador to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, offered him to be presidential candidate from his party. 

Yesterday, Sargsyan's candidature was approved at a meeting of the executive body of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia. Sargsyan was nominated as a the RPA leader, and the party can nominate him for the elections.

Armen Sargsyan was born on June 23, 1953 in Yerevan. In 1976, he graduated from the Yerevan State University and got PhD degree in physics and mathematics upon completing his post-graduate curriculum. He has worked at the Yerevan State University and at Cambridge University as professor.

In 1992, he was dispatched to the United Kingdom as ambassador. Sargsyan has also been on diplomatic missions in Belgium, the Netherlands, Vatican and Luxembourg.   

From November 1, 1996 to February 28, 1997, he was Armenian prime minister, and after that was appointed as ambassador to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. 

Over a period between 1993 and 2000 he has been a special consultant to the head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, then, in 2000, he was the chairman founder of Eurasia House International, in 2001 to 2011 he was founder and director of the Eurasian Center in the Cambridge University’s Judge School and founder of Astana annual Eurasian media forum. 

From 2001 to 2013 worked as chief advisor at British Petrolium, Alcatel, Telefonica, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and other international organizations, ARKA recalls.

An MP from Tsarukyan faction Naira Zohrabyan, speaking with Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that her party has not yet formed its position on a candidate. "Of course, the candidacy was not a surprise for us, the name of Armen Sargsyan figured as one of the options during the last 10 days, but so far I cannot sефеу our position on behalf of the Tsarukyan block. We should discuss the candidacy," she said, adding that the probability is high that the new president will not be just a nominal figure.

"Although Armenia is a parliamentary republic now, we understand that it is very difficult to change the mentality of citizens, and there is an understanding that much depends on a personality. Let's see what kind of personality Armen Sargsyan has, assess his work. The new constitution limited the powers of the presidency, but the right candidate can do a lot," Naira Zohrabyan said.

The Director of the Armenian branch of the CIS Institute, Alexander Makarov, recalled the RPA criteria for choosing the candidate. "In addition to the formal criteria set  in the Constitution, the RPA named such criteria as competence and significance in the international arena. And Armen Sargsyan is in line with them. He is a man who has a positive reputation abroad and was directly connected with Armenia, held responsible political positions. Therefore, Sargsyan's candidature will be nominated by the RPA for the post of the fourth president of Armenia," he said.

The expert also spoke about the new president's role in parliamentary Armenia. "On the one hand, he performs ceremonial, protocol and symbolic functions, acting as a representative of the state abroad. On the other hand, it is a figure that is trusted by the majority of political forces, which is also an important criteria when choosing Armen Sargsyan as a presidential candidate. It means that Sargsyan was chosen because he is acceptable not only to the RPA, but also to other parties," Alexander Markarov noted.