The deputies representing the Hayastan and Pativ Unem alliances already boycotted the two rounds of balloting through which the pro-government majority in the National Assembly installed Minister of High-Tech Industry Vahagn Khachatrian as president. They said he does not meet constitutional provisions requiring the presidency to be a “really neutral institution consolidating the society.”
Pativ Unem’s Hayk Mamijanian said on Wednesday that Khachatrian himself has admitted being a member of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s political team.
“He is Nikol Pashinian’s president,” Mamijanian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “We see no reason to attend the inauguration ceremony of Nikol Pashinian’s presidency.”
“They did not elect a president of the Republic of Armenia,” agreed Hayastan’s Ishkhan Saghatelian. “They just installed a member of their team as president. Therefore, we are not and will not be part of that process.”
Artur Hovannisian, a senior lawmaker from Pashinian’s Civil Contract party, denounced the opposition boycott. “I believe that the opposition deputies are being disrespectful towards the Armenian statehood,” he said.
Just like his predecessor Armen Sarkissian, who unexpectedly resigned in January, Khachatrian will have largely ceremonial powers. Addressing the National Assembly before the votes, the 62-year-old economist made clear that he will be helping the Armenian government implement its domestic and foreign policies.
Khachatrian will be sworn in on Sunday during a special session of the parliament that will also be attended by Armenian dignitaries and foreign diplomats.
A parliament spokesperson said that all former presidents of the republic, including Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sarkisian, have also been invited to the ceremony. Kocharian and Sarkisian lead Hayastan and Pativ Unem respectively.
Sarkisian’s office said that he will not attend Khachatrian’s inauguration. Saghatelian was confident that Kocharian will also boycott it.
Levon Ter-Petrosian, another ex-president critical of Pashinian, is also unlikely to accept the invitation. Khachatrian was a senior member of Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian National Congress (HAK) party until joining the current government last August.
The HAK’s deputy chairman, Levon Zurabian, took a dim view of Khachatrian’s election last week. He described the new president as an “obedient stooge” of Pashinian.
