Vahagn Khachaturyan elected new Armenian president

By Ruslan Rehimov

YEREVAN (AA) - Vahagn Khachaturyan was elected as the fifth president of Armenia on Thursday, receiving 71 votes in the second round of parliamentary vote.

The 63-year-old, who served as the minister of high technology, was nominated by the ruling My Step faction. He was the sole candidate, and lawmakers of opposition factions had boycotted the election.

Khachaturyan, received 69 votes in favor in the first round, but it was necessary to get 81 votes to be elected. Thus, a second round was held in the 107-seat parliament.

Armenian President Armen Sarkissian resigned on Jan. 23, saying he did not have the necessary tools to deal with the country's political problems.

Born in 1959 in the Sisian region of Armenia, Khachaturyan graduated from the economics department of the Armenian State University of Economics in 1980.

He served as the mayor of Yerevan from 1992-1996, and was later elected as a deputy.

Armenia is a parliamentary republic, where the president is elected by the parliament.

* Writing by Gozde Bayar