YEREVAN. – Even though the office of the President of the Republic of Armenia (RA) will lose some of its leverage after the amendments to the Constitution, the burden of accountability will reduce, but it will maintain a large number of advantages, reported Hraparak daily.

“This is the reason why it is very tempting for some, and there is no lack of candidates to the position of ‘British Queen-RA President.’

“It is not ruled out that some of the [respective] names that are circulating have been brought to the fore [either] by the close circles [of theirs], or as a result of logical analyzes.

“But some candidates say they are ‘self-nominated’ by petitioning to [incumbent President] Serzh Sargsyan. This refers to [chairman of opposition Orinats Yerkir (Rule of Law) Party] Arthur Baghdasaryan, [Minister of Defense] Seyran Ohanyan, [and serving President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic] Bako Sahakyan.

“But the constitutionally-defined requirement of RA citizenship and residency in Armenia for seven consecutive years deprives many of the chance,” wrote Hraparak.