Armenia president 'ready to stand between police and protesters'

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian president Armen Sarkissian says he is ready to stand between police and protesters if he has to, The Independent says in an article about the current political situation in Armenia.

After Armenia transitioned to a parliamentary system of government this year, Sarkissian’s office was supposed to have become non-political. But as the standoff between the country’s longtime leader Serzh Sargsyan and protest challenger Nikol Pashinyan enraptured a whole country, president Sarkissian was unexpectedly thrust onto centre stage, becoming an important mediator between the opposing factions.

As a second parliamentary vote next Tuesday looks set to approve Pashinyan as prime minister, Armenia looks finally to be walking back from the brink. But the road has not always been easy.

The president’s April 21 visit to a protest rally in Republic Square was a turning point in the protests.

“The one thing I emphasised was that this must be decided by dialogue and within the constitution,” he says.

The 65-year old says he intends to stay on in his role for the foreseeable future, casting himself as the father of a young nation of “survivors”.

“We are all learning, and I’m ready to get involved again if things go wrong,” he says. “I’m ready to stand between police and protesters if I have to.”

Sarkissian hints at the problems that lie ahead for Armenia’s revolutionary leadership.

“Mr Pashinyan has shown himself to be a very talented politician, with an acute sense of public opinion,” he says.

“But running the government provides a completely a different challenge. He will have to provide answers to all the questions he has asked. And people will have to realise that not everything that went before was black, and not everything will be white tomorrow.”

But for the first time in a long time, the president is confident that Armenia is finally heading for less choppier waters.

“The models have become predictable again,” he says. “And I’m proud of that.”