Will the Opposition Nominate a Candidate for the President of Armenia?

The opposition factions "Hayastan" and "Pativ Unem" in the National Assembly of Armenia are still discussing whether to propose a candidate for the presidency of Armenia. In an interview with Sputnik Armenia, Agnesa Hamoyan, a member of the "Hayastan" faction, noted that they are trying to understand how appropriate it is to nominate a presidential candidate at this time, especially when the ruling power is clearly going to push its candidate.

Hamoyan emphasized that their final decision will be announced in the next 1-2 days. When asked if there has been a meeting and discussion with the "Pativ Unem" faction on this issue, the MP responded that it is logical for the two opposition forces in the National Assembly to perhaps nominate a joint candidate. "I think that if we have a candidate, it could be joint," said Hamoyan.

She also referred to the candidate from the "Civil Contract" faction, Vahagn Khachaturyan. "We had certain expectations from Armen Sarkissian that he would perform his constitutional duties, which he was complaining about but practically did not use. In the case of Vahagn Khachaturyan, having expectations would be, to put it mildly, political naivety, since Nikol Pashinyan stated that the candidate for president will be someone who will unconditionally carry out his orders," Hamoyan mentioned.

Hayk Mamijanyan, the secretary of the "Pativ Unem" faction, also stated that they currently do not have enough MPs according to the law to nominate a candidate for the presidency. "At the moment we are consulting with the "Pativ Unem" faction regarding the nomination of a united opposition candidate. One of the issues discussed is that in the event of nominating a candidate, the ruling power has a majority and can still push its candidate through voting. This is one of the pressing concerns in our consultations," Mamijanyan stated.

He stressed that the country's president should act as a supra-partisan arbiter, but a political force that pursues judges or tries to have its lackeys in the Constitutional Court is unlikely to be able to nominate an impartial presidential candidate.

Let us remember that on January 23, President Armen Sarkissian resigned, stating that he could not fully utilize his potential in favor of solving systemic internal and external political issues. Today it was officially announced that the deputies from the "Civil Contract" faction will nominate the Minister of High-Tech Industry, Vahagn Khachaturyan, as a candidate for the president of Armenia.