Executive Branch

The President of the Republic of Armenia

The incumbent President of Armenia is Serzh Sargsyan (elected on February 19, 2007).

The President of the Republic of Armenia shall be the head of the state.
The President of the Republic shall strive to uphold the Constitution and to ensure the regular functioning of the legislative, executive and judicial powers.
The President of the Republic shall be the guarantor of the independence, territorial integrity and security of the Republic of Armenia .
The President of the Republic shall be elected by the citizens of the Republic of Armenia for a five year term of office.
The same person may not be elected for the post of the President of the Republic for more than two consecutive terms.
 

Presidential duties and responsibilities

According to the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia the President of the Republic:

1) shall deliver addresses to the people and the National Assembly;

2) shall, within twenty one days of receipt, sign and promulgate, the laws passed by the National Assembly;
Within this period he/she may remand the law passed by the National Assembly to the latter with objections and recommendations requesting for new deliberations. The President shall, within five days, sign and promulgate the law re-adopted by the National Assembly;

3) dissolve the National Assembly in the cases and in conformity with the procedure prescribed by Article 74.1 of the Constitution and declares extraordinary elections;

4) shall, on the basis of the distribution of the seats in the National Assembly and consultations held with the parliamentary factions, appoint as Prime Minister the person enjoying confidence of the majority of the Deputies and if this is impossible the President of the Republic shall appoint as the Prime Minister the person enjoying confidence of the maximum number of the Deputies. The President of the Republic shall appoint the Prime Minister within ten days after acceptance of the resignation of the Government. The Government shall be formed within 20 days after the appointment of the Prime Minister;
The President of the Republic shall appoint to and dismiss from office the members of the Government upon the recommendation of the Prime Minister;
The President of the Republic shall accept the resignation of the Government on the day of the first sitting of the newly elected National Assembly, of the assumption of the office by the President of the Republic, of the expression of the vote of no confidence to the Government, of not giving approval to the program of the Government, of the resignation of the Prime Minister or when the office of the Prime Minister remains vacant. After the acceptance of the resignation of the Government by the President of the Republic the members of the Government shall continue discharging their responsibilities until the formation of the new Government;

5) shall make appointments to state office positions in cases prescribed by the law;

6) shall form and preside over the National Security Council, may establish other advisory bodies;

7) shall represent the Republic of Armenia in international relations, execute the general guidance of the foreign policy, conclude international agreements, forward the international agreements to the National Assembly for ratification and sign their ratification forms, approve, suspend or annul the international agreements for which no ratification is required;

8) shall appoint to and recall from office the diplomatic representatives of the Republic of Armenia in foreign countries and international organizations, accept the letters of credence and recall of the diplomatic representatives in foreign countries and international organizations;

9) shall recommend to the National Assembly the candidacy of the Prosecutor General, the Chairman of the Central Bank and the Chairman of Control Chamber. Shall upon the recommendation of the Prosecutor General appoint and release the deputies of the Prosecutor General;

10) shall appoint 4 members of the Constitutional Court and, if the National Assembly fails to appoint the President of the Constitutional Court in the period prescribed in Article 83 Clause 1 - the President of the Constitutional Court from among the members of the Constitutional Court;
He may, on the basis of a conclusion of the Constitutional Court terminate the powers of any of his/her appointees in the Constitutional Court or give his consent to involve the member as an accused, detain him/her, authorize to institute a court proceeding to subject him/her to administrative liability;

11) upon the recommendation of the Council of Justice:
a) shall appoint the presidents and the judges of the Court of Cassation and its chambers, the appeal, first instance and specialized courts,
b) shall terminate their powers,
c) give agreement to involve them as accused, detain them or initiative administrative proceedings against them through judicial process;
Upon the conclusion of the Council of Justice appoint judges of the appeal, first instance and professional courts;
11.1) shall appoint two legal scholars as members of the Council of Justice;

12) shall be the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, coordinate the operations of the government bodies in the area of defense, appoint to and dismiss from office the Highest Command of the armed and paramilitary forces;  

13) in the event of an armed attack against the Republic, an imminent danger thereof or declaration of war, shall declare a martial law, may call for a general or partial mobilization and shall decide on the use of the armed forces.

On February 19, 2008, presidential election was held in Armenia. The election frontrunners were Serzh Sargsyan from the Republican Party of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrossian, the first president of the Republic of Armenia, and Artur Baghdasarian from the Rule of Law Party. Serzh Sargsyan won the election in the first round according to official results with 52.82%.   

Presidential Administration

The Presidential Administration is formed to assist the President of the Republic to carry out his duties, provided by the Constitution and other law documents of the Republic.

The Head of Presidential Administration since September 29, 2008 is Karen Karapetyan.

The Government of the Republic of Armenia

Tigran Sargsyan - Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia (appointed on April 9, 2008). Preceded by Serzh Sargsyan (April 4, 2007 - April 9, 2008).  

Armen Gevorkyan - Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Territorial Administration.

Edward Nalbandian - Foreign Minister fo the republic of Armenia (appointed on April 14, 2008). Preceded by Vartan Oskanian.

Nerces Yeritzyan - Minister of Trade and Economic Development.

Seyran Ohanyan - Minister of Defense.

Gevorg Danielyan - Minister of Justice.

The Government shall develop and implement the domestic policy of the Republic of Armenia. The Government shall develop and implement the foreign policy of the Republic of Armenia jointly with the President of the Republic. The authority of the Government shall encompass all matters of public administration not bestowed on other state or local self-government bodies by the law.

By virtue of the Constitution, the international treaties, the laws of the Republic of Armenia, or the decrees of the President of the Republic and to ensure the implementation thereof the Government shall adopt decisions, which shall be subject to observance in the whole territory of the Republic.

The Government shall comprise the Prime Minister and the Ministers.

The structure of the Government shall upon the recommendation of the Government be defined by the law. The procedure for the organization of operations of the Government and other public administration bodies under the Government shall upon the submission of the Prime Minister be defined by the decree of the President of the Republic.

After the parliamentary and presidential elections June 11, 2003, a memorandum was signed between the three pro-Presidential parties, who took the leading positions in the National Assembly.  As per the agreement, the representatives of the “Orinats Yerkir” party take up the posts of Minister of science and education, Minister of Culture, and Ministry of Urban Construction. “The Armenian Revolutionary Federation – Dashnaktsutiun ” party take the Ministry of the social security, agriculture, and healthcare.  The President of Armenia appoints the Defense minister, the Minister of the Exterior, and Minister of justice.  All of the remaining positions are occupied by the representatives of Republican Party of Armenia.

The Government shall:
1) submit its program to the National Assembly for approval in accordance with Article 74 of the Constitution;

2) submit the draft state budget to the National Assembly for approval, ensure the execution of the budget and submit financial reports on the budget execution to the National Assembly;

3) manage the state property;

4) implement unified state policies in the areas of finances, economy, taxation, loans and credits;
4.1) implement the state territorial development policy;

5) implement state policies in the areas of science, education, culture, health, social security and environmental protection;

6) ensure the implementation of the defense, national security and foreign policies of the Republic;

7) ensure maintenance of law and order, take measures to strengthen the legal order and ensure rights and freedoms of the citizens;

8) perform other functions and powers provided by the Constitution and laws.

Regional Governors shall be appointed to and dismissed from office by the decision of the Government. These Government decisions shall be validated by the President of the Republic.

The Regional Governors shall pursue the territorial policy of the Government, coordinate the activities of the territorial services of the executive bodies, save for cases prescribed by the law.

Groups of Influence

Recently, Armenia has seen formation of a certain informal groups of influence, which has control over economic and political processes in the country. The oligarch structures, tightly linked to the authorities, control the majority of Armenia 's import.  According to the data, provided by Armenian International Policy Research Group, the oligarch structures control such sectors as fuel supply for Armenia and food products.  Monopolist oligarch positions, their mergers with the ruling circles have resulted in certain economy spheres becoming inaccessible for business. Besides, according to the estimates of the opposition press, oligarch and semi-criminal economic circles seriously affect political life of the country.

The Armenian Diaspora lobbyist organizations should also deserve mentioning. These organizations acting jointly with the Armenian government exert pressure on Turkey and other countries on the issue of the Armenian Genocide recognition as well as in the Nagorny Karabakh issue. The influence of the Armenian organizations, such as Armenian National Congress of America, Armenian Assembly of America in the Senate and in the Congress is annually increasing. According to experts, it is the activity of the Armenian lobbyists that results in stable large annual financial aid granted to Armenia by the United States (Armenia occupies the second place after Israel per capita in the list of the countries receiving financial aid from the US). Armenian organizations are strong in Europe, particularly, in France . The Union of Armenians of Russia, headed by Ara Abramian, functions in our country providing support for exterior policies of Yerevan on certain issues.

Serious economic and socio-political influence in Armenia is also exerted by international organizations like the World Bank, OCSE and the European Union. These organizations raise funds and conduct the structural reforms in collaboration with all branches of the government. Armenian NGOs with the financial and political support on part of the international structures lobby democratic innovations at the legislative level and institute elaboration.