Khachatrian told reporters that he will strive to “find solutions through dialogue and discussion,” rather than confrontation. He would not say whether he will stand up to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian if necessary.
Civil Contract officially nominated Khachatrian for the vacant post on Wednesday ten days after former President Armen Sarkissian unexpectedly announced his resignation, complaining about his largely ceremonial powers. The ruling party controls enough parliament seats to install the 62-year-old economist as the next president of the republic.
Pashinian said on January 24 that the new president must be in sync with his administration. He said there was a lack of such “political harmony” about a year ago when the Armenian army top brass demanded his resignation, deepening a political crisis resulting from Armenia’s defeat in the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The premier seemed to refer to Sarkissian’s reluctance to quickly rubber-stamp his decision to fire the country’s top general.
Pashinian similarly said on Thursday that the president and the government must share a “common strategy” and avoid “opposite movements.”
“This doesn’t mean that everyone must have the same view on every issue,” he said. “It means arriving at common conclusions and opinions as a result of discussions.”
Khachatrian faulted the former president for not always finding common ground with the executive and legislative branches of Armenia’s government.
Opposition politicians and other critics of the government believe that Sarkissian was on the contrary too subservient to Pashinian during his nearly four-year presidency.