Sarkissian also complained about verbal attacks from “various political factions” which he said have targeted him and members of his family during his tenure. He did not name those detractors.
“After very long deliberations and four years of active work, I have decided to resign from the post of the president of the republic,” Sarkisian said in a statement. “This decision is not emotional at all, and it follows certain logic.”
“The president does not have the necessary tools to influence the radical processes of domestic and foreign policy in these difficult times for the country and the nation,” added the statement.
In particular, the 68-year-old head of state pointed to his inability to veto bills passed by the parliament or “influence issues relating to war and peace.” In that regard, he renewed his calls for major amendments to the Armenian constitution.
Under the constitution, which was radically amended in 2015, the president of the republic is elected by the parliament. The current National Assembly is controlled by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract party.
Pashinian and his political allies did not immediately react to Sarkissian’s surprise resignation.
Sarkissian lived and worked in London for nearly three decades prior to becoming president in April 2018 as Armenia completed its transition to a parliamentary system of government engineered by his predecessor, Serzh Sarkisian. He was elected for a seven-year term by the country’s former parliament controlled by Serzh Sarkisian’s political allies.
Armen Sarkissian was sworn in just two weeks before Serzh Sarkisian resigned as prime minister amid Pashinian-led mass protests sparked by the ex-president’s attempt to prolong his decade-long rule.
The current president has since rarely opposed or challenged the Armenian government’s policies, prompting strong criticism from opposition groups. But he did urge Pashinian to resign and call snap general elections following Armenia’s defeat in the 2020 war with Azerbaijan.
Sarkissian announced his resignation five days after going on what his press office described as a “short vacation.” The office said that he needs to undergo a “medical examination.”
A physicist and mathematician by education, Sarkissian worked at the Cambridge University when he was appointed as newly independent Armenia’s first ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1991. He served as prime minister for four months in 1996-1997 before being again named ambassador in London.
His second ambassadorial stint was cut short in 1999 by then President Robert Kocharian. Sarkissian stayed in Britain and made a fortune there in the following decade, working as an advisor and middleman for Western corporations doing business in the former Soviet Union. He was appointed as Armenian ambassador to Britain for a third time in 2013.