SARKISYAN APPOINTED NEW ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER
ITAR-TASS, Russia
April 4 2007
YEREVAN, April 4 (Itar-Tass) — Armenian Defence Minister Serzh
Sarkisyan has been appointed the new prime minister, according to a
presidential decree released on Wednesday.
The post has been vacant since March 25 when Prime Minister Andranik
Margaryan, the head of the Republican Party, died from heart failure.
He had held office since May 12, 2000.
On March 26, the president accepted the resignation of the government
and instructed its ministers to continue to carry on until a new
government is formed.
Sarkisyan, 53, was appointed defence minister in May 2000. Prior to
that, since November 1999, he was National Security Council secretary.
He has been the chairman of the Republican Party Board since July 2006.
Under the Constitution, the government has to be formed within 20
days of the appointment of the prime minister.