Central Bank Chairman Nominated for PM

Various news sources report that president-elect Serge Sargsyan has nominated Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia as prime minister. RFE/RL reports that nomination of 48-year-old Tigran Sargsyan (no relation) has been accepted by the ruling Republican party, but that opinions elsewhere in government circles is mixed.

The HHK’s largest coalition partner, the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) close to outgoing President Robert Kocharian, appears to be less than satisfied with Sarkisian’s choice of new prime minister. Naira Zohrabian, a senior BHK member, told RFE/RL that while the Republicans have the right to name the next Armenian premier, they should have picked someone else. “As for the rumors about that person being an economics genius, I’m sorry but I have serious reservations about those rumors,” she scoffed.

Tigran Sarkisian is known as a proponent of free-market policies championed by Western lending institutions. He had been a member of Armenia’s first post-Communist parliament elected in 1990 and headed the Armenian Bank Association before being appointed CBA chairman by Kocharian in 1998.

Photo: © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008