On Marth 3rd, 2022, the National Assembly of Armenia has elected the new President of the country. The newly elected President of Armenia is Vahagn Khachaturyan, former Minister of High Technology, and Industry. Khachaturyan has officially nominated the ruling Civil Contract Party of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Khachaturyan, who is coming to the fore as the only candidate for the Presidency, could not reach the required 81 votes in the first round of the elections with receiving just 69 votes. Although at least 65 deputies’ votes were required for Khachaturyan to be elected, in the second round of the elections process, he became the President with 71 votes.
As it may be known, the former President of Armenia, Armen Sarkissian has announced his resignation from his duty on January 23, 2022. He demonstrated the main reasons for his resignation, as the lack of capability of his office which will affect the foreign and domestic policy, by underlining difficulties in defence of Armenian national interests. Sarkissian also declared that such constitutional restrictions could lead to a “national crisis” and stated that the President cannot affect the situation of war and peace and does not exercise his veto power against the laws enacted in the country.[1]
Sarkissian, who has of diplomatic origin, served as Prime Minister in 1996-1997. In April 2018, he was proposed as a presidential candidate by the Armenian Republican Party and its coalition partner, the Dashnaktsutyun (Armenian Revolutionary Federation) Party, and was eventually elected as the President.
With respect to this, Pashinyan who led the uprising in the country became Prime Minister in April 2018. Thus, the balance has been built between the pro-status quo and the pro-change.
Sarkissian has only a symbolic status in the country; Although he had to play a balancing role between the government and the opposition, both his election by the government before Pashinyan and his unsuccessful criticism of Pashinyan during the Second Karabakh War, which lasted for 44 days, has revealed that Sarkissian was on the side of the opposition. Therefore, Sarkissian’s resignation and then a minister from Pashinyan’s cabinet becoming President means that the political balances in Armenia have changed in favour of Pashinyan.
Further, Sarkissian was the last representative of “Old Armenia” in a symbolic sense. Despite the old political actors who have fallen into opposition positions in Armenian politics still exist, Sarkissian’s departure and Khachaturyan’s becoming the new President are concrete indications that the Pashinyan Government has gained superiority over its rivals.
Khachaturyan, who was the Mayor of Yerevan from 1992 to 1996, has begun his political career with the team of the first President of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan and he has also served as Advisor to the President between 1996 and 1998. When Ter-Petrosyan has left his office in the late 1990s, Khachaturyan resigned together with him, even though he could take part in the newly formed government.
Khachaturyan supported the “peaceful coexistence with Azerbaijan” approach along with the Ter-Petrosyan and more, during his political career, he has advocated improved Armenia-Azerbaijan relations.
He did not support the movement by the supporters of the Karabakh War, who took power in Armenia in 1998, nor did he have any relations with the Karabakh Clan. He continued to be a member of Ter-Petrosyan’s Armenian National Congress until he joined Pashinyan’s squad. It is stated that Haçaturyan, after serving as the Minister of State for Technology and Industry on August 4, 2021, had not made any statement that he was a Pashinyan supporter. However, as a member of the ruling party, it could be said that the party supported Pashinyan and contributed to the activities of the Civil Contract Party.[2]
According to Armenian media, Khachaturyan has participated in the “Evaluation of Relations between Turkey and Armenia” event at Çukurova University, Adana, in 2011 upon the invitation of Turkey. According to the report, Khachaturian has added that Armenia had no intention of looking back and that the two countries should be able to resolve their problems among themselves.[3]
With reference to the 2015 constitutional amendment in Armenia, the President has limited powers and has no significant influence on domestic and foreign policy. This was the reason for his predecessor Sarkissian’s resignation. However, when we analyze the past political stance of Khachaturyan, and, in general, the foreign policy of Pashinyan, it can be said that Armenia would like to advance the “normalization processes” in its foreign policy more rapidly. The former President Sarkissian was mainly attempting to strike a balance in Armenian foreign policy by promoting relations with Russia. The new President, Khachaturyan, will focus on improving the relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey, on the condition that remains loyal to the military alliance with Russia which is the fundamental principle of Armenia.
The foreign policy objective would be to open Armenia to the West. The success to be achieved in the normalization processes will also allow the country to provide uninterrupted access to the West. As a result, it can be predicted that Armenia turns into an actor that develops more constructive relations in foreign policy with the Khachaturyan period.
[1] “Президент Армении Саркисян объявил об отставке”,İzvestiya, https://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/news/2022/01/23/906031-sarkisyan-podal-v-otstavku, (Date of Accession: 05.02.2022).
[2] Сона Рустамова, “Новый президент Армении: кто такой Ваагн Хачатурян”, News.Ru, https://news.ru/world/kto-takoj-novyj-prezident-armenii/, (Date of Accession: 05.02.2022).
[3] “Армения получит президента, готового извиниться перед турками за «АСАЛА»“, Erkramas, https://yerkramas.org/article/186669/armeniya-poluchit-prezidenta–gotovogo-izvinitsya-pered-turkami-za-%C2%ABasala%C2%BB, (Date of Accession: 05.02.2022).
