Wednesday, May 9 2018 15:38

ArmInfo.Acting Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan will continue to fulfill his duties until the appointment of a new head of the defense department. "I stated this  earlier, I repeat again, I consider it unacceptable to leave my post  until a new minister is appointed.

Nothing can stop me from fulfilling my job duties until the appointment of a new minister, and this, first of all, comes from the interests of the security of our  country, "said Sargsyan. At the same time, he excluded his presence  in the new government of Armenia both as defense minister and in  other posts. According to him, this is based on his ideological,  political and life positions. "I exclude my work with Nikol  Pashinyan's team. I'm not ready to share political responsibility  with Pashinyan's team, "he added at a press conference on May 9. 

At the same time, he added that the Armenian Constitution does not  presuppose the submission of a petition for resignation, and his  powers will be completed immediately after the appointment of the new  minister.  At the same time, he added that the current leadership of  the Ministry of Defense is preparing a 10-hour briefing for the new  defense minister, which will detail all the activities of the agency  and the projects being implemented. At the same time, he added that  he is interested in ensuring that the new head of the defense  ministry is successful, since this, first of all, is based on  Armenia's interests, its stability and security. Sargsyan also said  that he is ready to give any support to the new minister: "I remain  an adherent of the position that in our country there should be  issues around which there will be a unified position of the society."  Asked about his attitude to the candidacy of David Tonoyan, acting  minister of emergency situations, as a possible defense minister,  Sargsyan said that he knows the latter for many years and together  they have come a long way. <Tonoyan I know more than 19 years. He  knows the Ministry of Defense well, he served here and has  experience, knowledge. And for me personally it would be acceptable  to see Tonoyan as defense minister. He will have the opportunity to  conduct a comparative analysis of what has been done over the past  1.5 years and the effectiveness of this work, "the head of the  defense department said. At the same time, he added that he was  slightly surprised by Tonoyan's response to the proposal of the  deputy from the faction "Yelk" Ararat Mirzoyan, voiced on the square,  to assume the post of defense minister in Pashinyan's team. According  to him, this reaction meant that being in the current government he  leaves the doors open for such negotiations. "I personally have never  done this. They consider it to be a taboo, but people think  differently, live differently. This is his personal choice. In  revolutionary periods, there are always thoughts about positions,  "summed up Sargsyan, noting that he does not consider the events of  recent days as a revolution, but characterizes them as a change of  power.