Armen Sarkissian’s Resignation and Citizenship Scandal
Background
Armen Sarkissian, the former President of Armenia, resigned from his position on January 25, 2022. An investigation by Armenian investigative outlet Hetq revealed that Sarkissian was not eligible for the office due to holding citizenship in Saint Kitts and Nevis, a small Caribbean nation.
The Investigation
According to OC Media, Sarkissian announced his resignation from the presidency on Sunday night, shortly after being contacted for comment about his Saint Kitts and Nevis citizenship by journalists. In his resignation announcement, Sarkissian wrote that he was leaving the position because he lacked ‘tools’ to properly influence Armenia’s domestic and foreign policy. He did not mention the investigation.
The Armenian Constitution stipulates that to be eligible for president, a candidate must have held only Armenian citizenship for six years prior to assuming office. Sarkissian had previously only acknowledged holding dual Armenian-British citizenship and had claimed he had renounced the latter in 2011 — seven years before becoming president.
Sarkissian’s Confession
According to Hetq, when approached for comment, Sarkissian confirmed that he had been a citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis as late as 2017. He also reportedly said that he had become a citizen of the small island country and noted tax haven unwittingly through a citizenship-for-investment scheme after he invested into a hotel. ‘My motivation was to make investments, and I was not interested in my passport at all’, Hetq reports him as saying.
He also claimed that he had instructed his legal counsel to initiate a process of renouncing the citizenship in 2013, but, in 2017, when he was offered the Armenian presidency he discovered that the process was not carried out.
Consequences
As a result of the investigation, Sarkissian’s resignation triggered a flurry of speculation in the country. Opposition Armenia Alliance MP and former Defence Minister Seyran Ohanyan floated the idea that Sarkissian’s resignation may be connected with ‘new documents’ [with Azerbaijan] that he ‘is trying to avoid’. Others had speculated that the former president may remain in Armenian politics, with political commentator Nerses Kopalyan tweeting that the public should ‘expect him [Sarkissian] to enter politics as a democratic alternative to Pashinyan’.
As of publication, government officials have not released any official comments on the resignation.
Armen Sarkissian’s Background
Sarkissian, a career diplomat, had served as Armenia’s ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1998 to 2018. He was elected as president on 2 March 2018. For four months in 1996, he also briefly served as the country’s prime minister, having been appointed by Armenia’s first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan. He was replaced in the position by Robert Kocharyan.
His tenure as president began in turmoil as the Armenian revolution broke out only a month after he had assumed the post, and catapulted protest leader and opposition political figure Nikol Pashinyan to power. Despite becoming president under Armenia’s old regime, Sarkissian appeared to have few public disagreements with Pashinyan in the years following the revolution. However, an open rift opened up following Armenia’s defeat in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, with Sarkissian calling for Pashinyan’s resignation as Prime Minister and the creation of a new government of ‘National Accord’ in November 2020.
Conclusion
The resignation of Armen Sarkissian has sparked controversy and speculation in Armenia. The investigation by Hetq has raised questions about the eligibility of the former president and his actions during his tenure in office. The situation remains uncertain, with many waiting to see what will happen next in the political landscape of Armenia.
FAQs
Q: Why did Armen Sarkissian resign as President of Armenia?
A: Sarkissian resigned due to the investigation into his citizenship in Saint Kitts and Nevis, which revealed that he was not eligible for the office.
Q: What was the investigation about?
A: The investigation was conducted by Armenian investigative outlet Hetq and revealed that Sarkissian had held citizenship in Saint Kitts and Nevis as late as 2017.
Q: What was Sarkissian’s response to the investigation?
A: Sarkissian confirmed that he had been a citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis as late as 2017 and claimed that he had become a citizen of the small island country and noted tax haven unwittingly through a citizenship-for-investment scheme.
Q: What are the consequences of Sarkissian’s resignation?
A: The resignation of Sarkissian has triggered a flurry of speculation in the country, with many wondering what will happen next in the political landscape of Armenia.