Serzh Sargsyan promised that Karapetyan will remain the prime minister of Armenia
November 26, 2016
If the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) wins the majority of votes in the upcoming parliamentary elections, the incumbent Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan will remain in office. This statement was made by Armenian President and RPA Chairman Serzh Sargsyan at the party’s congress in Yerevan.
With this remark, Sargsyan addressed one of the key questions on the domestic political agenda—an issue that had been relevant since Karapetyan’s appointment as prime minister.
The new Cabinet has prepared a six-month action plan, as regular parliamentary elections are scheduled for April 2017 in Armenia. Following the president’s statement, it has become clear that the new prime minister’s mandate of trust will be extended for another year—until the president is replaced and the country transitions to a parliamentary system of governance, in accordance with the new Constitution.
Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan announced his intention to join the ruling party at a government meeting on November 24. He explained his decision primarily by the fact that President Sargsyan had offered him the position of prime minister. “Every government must have a political platform, and ours was, first and foremost, the Cabinet of Ministers of the RPA. Some may wonder why I chose the RPA as my support base instead of creating a new political force. My answer is simple: it wouldn’t be justified. In the context of the Karabakh war, we must avoid any developments that could destabilize the situation,” he said.
