Sargsyan and Alen Simonian Meet; President Leaves the Country the Next Day and Does Not Return, Parliament Responds

Former head of the Constitutional Court staff Edgar Ghazaryan made a Facebook post addressing the resignation of President Armen Sargsyan. Ghazaryan specifically noted, “On January 13, 2022, a meeting took place between the President of the Republic, Armen Sargsyan, and the President of the National Assembly, Alen Simonian, who is responsible for replacing him in case of resignation. The day after the meeting, Armen Sargsyan left Armenia and has not returned, announcing his resignation on January 23… Information about the application submitted by the President to the President of the National Assembly became known on January 23, 2022, Sunday, when the President of the Republic was not only absent from the country but was also on vacation. On the same day, around 11:00 PM, it was officially announced by the National Assembly that the resignation application of Armen Sargsyan had been received. The subsequently published application revealed that it bore one electronic signature (without the other necessary conditions for electronic signature) and lacked a date (only stated January 2022, but the specific day was not indicated), a reference number (although the first letters of the numbering were marked, but the number was absent), and there was no indication from the President's Office confirming its issuance, nor any acknowledgment of its receipt from the National Assembly staff (with a stamp indicating date and registration number). It turns out that the ‘document’ regarding the President's resignation does not meet the required conditions for submission and has an unclear origin. It is also unclear who from the President's staff sent it to the National Assembly on Sunday night and who among the Assembly's staff received it at around 11:00 PM, which was reported to the travelling Chairman of the Assembly, and based on his instructions, communicated to the public through the press service. Moreover, this is despite the fact that there are clear protocols and traditions for the organization and regulation of operations and documentation in both the President's Office and the National Assembly,” he wrote.

Auroranews contacted the press secretary of the National Assembly chairman, Tsvetana Khachatryan, regarding Ghazaryan's comments about the meeting between Armen Sargsyan and Alen Simonian. In response to the question of how she would comment on the meeting, she stated, “On January 13, there was a meeting between Armen Sargsyan and National Assembly Chairman Alen Simonian, which was officially announced. As for Sargsyan’s departure afterward, we also left for the USA the day after the meeting… What then?” In response to the observation regarding the absence of a date and reference number on the resignation application, Tsvetana Khachatryan explained that Sargsyan’s resignation notification was received electronically through the Mulberry electronic system, which automatically recorded the date.