YEREVAN, March 3. /ARKA/. Armenian President Armen Sarkissian met on Wednesday with Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, Colonel General Onik Gasparyan, who together with more than 40 other top army brass demanded in a statement earlier this month that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his government resign.
Sarkissian’s press office said the interlocutors discussed in detail the tense situation that has developed in connection with the statement in question.
They were said also to have confirmed that regardless of decisions in this regard, the security and stability of the country are of primary importance.
Sarkissian noted that the armed forces should always be the subject of common concern and that he will continue to keep the army and its problems at the center of attention.
Sarkissian earlier refused to sign a petition submitted by Pashinyan seeking the sacking of Gasparyan, describing it as unconstitutional and saying it would deepen the “unprecedented” political crisis in the country. Pashinyan said the refusal was “unfounded” and resubmitted his petition.
Under Armenian law, even if the president refuses to again to sign the petition, it will enter into force. Sarkissian can also ask the Constitutional Court to declare the petition unconstitutional. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has been facing opposition demands to resign since he signed a peace deal in November with Azerbaijani and Russian leaders to end the 44-day war in Nagorno-Karabakh that claimed thousands of young lives, and saw Azerbaijan reclaim control over large parts of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas that had been held by Armenian forces for more than a quarter of a century.
The standoff has intensified after Pashinyan fired a deputy chief of the army’s general staff Tiran Khachatryan who reportedly laughed off his claim that only 10% of Russia-supplied Iskander missiles that Armenia used in the conflict exploded.
After Khachatryan’s sacking the chief of the army staff Onik Gasparyan and more than 40 other high-ranking army officers signed under a statement demanding Pashinyan’s resignation. Pashinyan reiterated by issuing an order to sack Gasparyan and called the demand as attempted coup.
However, Armenia’s largely ceremonial president, Armen Sarkissian refused to sign it and sent back to Pashinyan’s office. “Political struggle must not go beyond the bounds of the law, it should not lead to shocks and instability,” he said in a statement.
Pashinyan quickly resubmitted the demand warning that the president could be impeached if he fails to endorse the move.-0-