Yerevan: Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said Chief of General Staff Onik Gasparyan had been relieved of his duties, Russian news agency RIA reported.
Earlier, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian refused to sign the corresponding decree but did not send the document to the Constitutional Court, which led to the automatic resignation of the military leader.
As stated in the press service of the head of state, he challenged in the Constitutional Court, not the draft decree itself, but the provisions of the law “On Military Service and the Status of Servicemen,” regulating personnel issues in the armed forces.
“Taking into account the fact that the President of the Republic did not sign the draft decree submitted by the Prime Minister within the time limits established by the law ‘On Military Service and the Status of Servicemen’ and did not apply to the Constitutional Court … Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia Onik Gasparyan has been relieved of his post since March 10 by force of law,” Pashinian said in a statement on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers.
However, Sarkissian on Wednesday appealed to the Constitutional Court to challenge Gasparyan’s dismissal, the president’s office said in a statement.
In a statement in response, Gasparyan denounced his dismissal as unconstitutional and said that Armenia’s political crisis could only be ended by Pashinyan’s resignation and snap parliamentary elections, the Interfax news agency reported. “I will continue to serve the motherland and the Armenian people in a different capacity,” he said, without elaborating.
Another statement attributed to the leadership of the armed forces said it agreed with Gasparyan’s statement and his overall assessment of the situation, News.am and Russian media outlets reported.
“There is one solution to the current situation, it is in the message (from Gasparyan),” the statement was quoted as saying.
Pashinian later proposed Artak Davtyan, the former chief of general staff, to replace Gasparyan, the TASS news agency reported.
Last month Pashinian spoke of a military coup after the military’s general staff demanded that he step down after months of protests sparked by the nation’s defeat in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan.
The general staff issued a statement calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, which was signed by top military officers. – Agencies
