Armenia Elected a New President

In the second round of the secret ballot, the Armenian parliament, which is dominated by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's Civil Contract Party, elected Vahagn Khachatryan as President by a vote of 71.

The opposition alliances Hayastan (Armenia) and Pativ Unem (I Have Honor) refused to take part in the elections. Khachatryan needed 81 votes in the first round to be elected, but the ruling party only had 71 members in the assembly. In the second round, the candidate needed 64 votes to be elected.

The single contender was Vahagn Khachatryan, the former Minister of High-Tech Industry. In the Armenian National Assembly, the opposition groupings declined to nominate candidates.

Armen Sarkissian, who announced his retirement on January 23 citing a lack of tools to influence the country's international and internal policies, has been replaced by Vahagn Khachatryan.

Armenia transformed its government style from a semi-presidential to a parliamentary republic in April 2018 as a result of a package of constitutional revisions approved in a national referendum in 2015.

Armenia's president, whose powers are severely limited, is elected by the parliament for a seven-year term. According to ARKA, presidents are only allowed to serve one term.