Prime minister’s resignation stemmed from political situation and mounting pressure

YEREVAN, April 9. / ARKA /. Prime minister Tigran Sarkisian’s resignation on April 3 resulted from the current political situation and mounting pressure of various groups, a political analyst Levon Shirinyan claimed today.

The government’s resignation was accepted by president Serzh Sargsyan, who instructed the ministers to continue to perform their duties until a new Cabinet is formed. The governing Republican Party of Armenia said its executive body would meet on April 10 to nominate a new prime minister.

"The authorities are caught between two fires: on the one hand there is the mounting  pressure of civic pressure groups campaigning against transition to a new pension scheme and the unceasing out emigration  and on the other hand  the parliamentary minority is stepping up its pressure on the government.  In fact, the resignation of the prime minister was not a surprise," he told a press conference on Wednesday.

He argued also that from the political point of view Armenian prime ministers do not have any significant clout as all the power belongs to the president.

Shirinyan said the new government will have to stop in the first place the out-emigration, to boost birth rates and crack down on corruption. 

According to another political analyst Shushan Khatlamajian, the resignation of Sarkisian was expected because the former prime minister failed to accomplish any serious program. 

The four parliamentary parties not represented in the ruling coalition –the Armenian National Congress, the Prosperous Armenia Party, the Heritage Party and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) which were going to hold a series of rallies later this month to demand the resignation of the prime minister, said on April 4 that they would work out a new agenda. -0-