The elections would “save the country from upheavals” in the wake of the six-week war that resulted in Armenian territorial losses in and around Karabakh, Sarkisian said in a televised address to the nation.
He urged Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government and My Step alliance to come up with a “roadmap” for the snap polls. They should be held by a new, interim “government of national accord,” added the head of state.
Sarkissian, who has largely ceremonial powers, said that his proposals reflect the dominant view of political party leaders and public figures with whom he has held consultations in recent days.
Some of those parties have been holding demonstrations in Yerevan to condemn Pashinian’s handling of the war and demand his resignation. The prime minister has rejected their demands. He has yet to publicly clarify whether he could agree to snap general elections demanded by his political opponents.
Pashinian and his political team did not immediately react to Sarkissian’s speech.