Vahagn Khachatrian, an economist and veteran politician, pledged to spare no effort to strengthen national unity as he was sworn in as Armenia’s new president on March 13.
The inauguration ceremony took place at a special session of the Armenian parliament boycotted by its two opposition factions.
In his inaugural speech, Khachatrian acknowledged that he was assuming office at a pivotal time for Armenia amid “complicated regional and international challenges.”
“We are witnessing rapidly changing geopolitical developments as a result of which current global security systems are being transformed. Today, more than ever, we need wisdom, confidence, stability and unity,” the new Armenian president said.
Khachatrian, 62, is an economist who had served as mayor of Yerevan from 1992 to 1996 during former President Levon Ter-Petrosian’s rule. He was a staunch political ally of Ter-Petrosian until agreeing to join Pashinian’s government last August.
After 2015 amendments in Armenia’s constitution transformed it into a parliamentary republic, the country’s president has largely held ceremonial powers while the prime minister is the head of the executive. Still, the president is considered to be the head of state.
Though he has no party affiliation, Khachatrian was nominated for the position by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s ruling Civil Contract party after the sudden resignation in January by Armen Sarkisian, who had been the country’s president since 2018.
Civil Contract’s faction in parliament later installed Khachatrian as president in a two-round vote boycotted by the opposition Hayastan and Pativ Unem factions.
Khachatrian quit the Ter-Petrosian-led political party before being nominated as a candidate for president who, under Armenia’s constitution, must not have any party affiliation.
Under Armenia’s constitution, the president is elected for just one term of seven years.
Sarkisian abruptly stepped down on January 23 citing a lack of power to influence policy during times of national crisis.
He had been critical of Pashinian over a number of issues, especially during the fallout from a six-week war with Azerbaijan in 2020 over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region that ended with a Russian-brokered peace deal.
Armenian forces lost control over large parts of the region and surrounding districts, while Azerbaijan was able to recapture territory lost in an early 1990s separatist conflict.
Sarkisian criticized being left out of negotiations to end the war and later objected when Pashinian fired Armenia's military leaders amid anti-government protests.
Khachatrian, Armenia's fifth president since it regained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, is a trained economist. After his stint as Yerevan mayor, he joined the board of directors in Armeconombank.
Last year, Pashinian appointed him as minister of high-technology industry.