Pashinyan expects new President to be elected in March

PanARMENIAN.Net - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told a Cebinet meeting on Thursday, February 3 that High-Tech Minister Vahagn Khachaturyan has been nominated as Armenia's next president by 65 members of parliament.

The Prime Minister noted that Khachaturyan will most probably be elected in March, and will continue serving as the country's Minister of High Technologies by then.

Pashinyan's ruling Civil Contract party earlier nominated Khachaturyan in the post of the country's President. According to parliament speaker Alen Simonyan, such a decision was reached after lengthy discussions, maintaining that it's hard to name specific reasons for the choice.

Simonian earlier signed a protocol on the termination of the powers of President Armen Sarkissian. According to the country's Constitution, "in the event of removal from office of the President of the Republic, impossibility to exercise the powers thereby, resignation or death thereof, an extraordinary election of the President of the Republic shall be held not earlier than twenty-five and not later than thirty-five days after the office of the President of the Republic becomes vacant."