Armen Vardani Sarkissian (Armenian: Արմեն Վարդանի Սարգսյան;[note 1] born 23 June 1952) is an Armenian politician currently the incumbent President of Armenia.[1] He served as Prime Minister of Armenia from 4 November 1996 to 20 March 1997 and previously was the country's (longest-serving) ambassador in London since 1998. Sarkissian assumed the presidency on 9 April 2018.[2]
Career
Sarkissian graduated from the Yerevan State University Department of Theoretical Physics and Mathematics.
He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia and the National Competitiveness Council of Armenia.
From 1976 to 1984, he was a professor of Physics at Yerevan State University and subsequently Head of the Department of Computer Modeling of Complex Systems at the same university's Department of Theoretical Physics.
He later became a visiting research fellow and eventually a professor at the University of Cambridge.
After serving as Armenian Prime Minister between 1996 and 1997, he was appointed as Special Advisor to the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and as a Governor of EBRD from 1993 to 2000.
Armen Sarkissian was also one of the directors of Eurasia House.[3] and Vice Chairman of the EastWest Institute. He held many honorary and executive positions in a number of international organizations including Member of Dean's Advisory Board at Kennedy School of Governance at Harvard University, Dean's Advisory Board at Harris School of Public Policy Studies at University of Chicago, Board member of International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX), the International Economic Alliance and Global Leadership Foundation. He was an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the School of Mathematical Sciences at Queen Mary and Westfield College (now Queen Mary University of London).
He was a Member of the Global Leadership Foundation, an organization which works to support democratic leadership, prevent and resolve conflict through mediation and promote good governance in the form of democratic institutions, open markets, human rights and the rule of law.
Since 2013 he has served on the board of trustees of the International School in Dilijan, Armenia. In January 2018, he received Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan's offer to be the ruling Republican Party's nominee in the country's first presidential election since the 2015 constitutional reforms.
Ambassador
In October 1991, Sarkissian established the Armenian Embassy in London, the first Armenian diplomatic mission in the West. In addition to his diplomatic mission in the United Kingdom, he went on to become Senior Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the European Union (EU), to Belgium and the Netherlands, Luxembourg and The Vatican. In 1995-1996, he was the Head of Mission of the Republic of Armenia to the European Union.
He was appointed Armenian Ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1998 and served until he was elected president on April 9, 2018.
Prime Minister of Armenia
Dr. Sarkissian was appointed Prime Minister of Armenia in 1996, serving until 1997.
President of Armenia
Election
President Serzh Sargsyan on January 19, 2018 recommended the candidacy of Sarkissian, for President to be supported by the ruling Republican Party during the 2018 Armenian presidential election. He also enjoyed additional support from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation bloc as well as from the Tsarukian Parliamentary bloc.
He was elected president by a majority of the National Assembly on 2 March 2018 with 90 votes in a 105-member House.[1] Sarkissian was the only candidate in the election.
Inauguration
Sarkissian was inaugurated on 9 April 2018. The inauguration ceremony took place at the Karen Demirchyan Complex in Yerevan.[4][5][6] After the ceremony, he visited the Yerablur military pantheon, and layed a wreath at the monument with Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan.[7]
Presidency
On inauguration day the government led by Karen Karapetyan resigned and parties in the National Assembly had a week to put forward their proposals for prime minister.[8] Former president Serzh Sargsyan was unanimously nominated by the members of ruling parties in the National Assembly on 16 April, and was confirmed as prime minister on 17 April.[9]
