Government says will send Army Chief proposal back to President

PanARMENIAN.Net - The government will be sending Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's proposal to appoint Lieutenant-General Artak Davtyan as the Chief of the Army General Staff back to President Armen Sarkissian, a spokesperson said Thursday, March 11, CivilNet reports.

Sarkissian had refused to sign the order to appoint Davtyan in the post and had returned the draft decree with objections.

According to Mane Gevorgyan, a spokesperson for Pashinyan, the document will be sent after the authorities respond to Sarkissian's objections.

The Prime Minister on Wednesday proposed to reinstate Davtyan in the post, having fired him only months ago. The decision came hours after Pashinyan fired Onik Gasparyan from the position. Davtyan served as the Chief of the General Staff from May 2018 to June 2020, when he was replaced by Gasparyan.

The decree on Gasparyan's dismissal was first issued on February 25 when the country's top military brass demanded Pashinyan's resignation. And although President Armen Sarkissian did not sign Pashinyan's proposal to sack the Chief of Army Staff, he was relieved of his post nonetheless, as the President did not send the draft decree to the Constitutional Court either, thus paving the way for his dismissal.