Armenia inaugurates new president

Vahagn Khachaturyan was sworn in as Armenia's new president on Sunday after his predecessor Armen Sarkissian abruptly stepped down earlier this year.

A seasoned politician and former mayor of the capital city of Yerevan, Khachaturyan stepped into the largely ceremonial role after being nominated by the ruling Civil Contract party. Sarkissian announced his intention to resign in January of this year arguing that the role of presidency was too constitutionally weak, constraining him from enacting his political vision.

After 10 years at the helm, Sargsyan had seen his constitutional terms come to an end and so amended the constitution to transfer executive powers to the role of prime minister before changing seats and giving the now-ceremonial presidential role to Sarkissian.

That step, however, was rejected by Armenians and led to a popular uprising that toppled the setup and brought Nikol Pashinyan to power. Sarkissian was kept in his seat as ceremonial head of state.