The speaker of Parliament, Alen Simonyan, assumed the duties of Armenia’s president on Tuesday, after the seven-day grace period concluded since Armen Sarkissian submitted his resignation the post on January 23. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party nominated Vahagn Khachatryan as its candidate for president, an anticipated move given reports circulating in the media since Sunday.

According to Armenia’s Constitution, in the event of a vacancy in the office of the president, the parliament speaker assumes those duties until a new leader is elected.

Sarkissian stunned the nation by abruptly resigning his post on January 23, claiming that the office of the president did not allow him to have a more productive impact on Armenia’s foreign, economic and domestic policies.

“The President does not have the necessary tools to influence the radical processes of domestic and foreign policy in these difficult times for the country and the nation. At this difficult time for our state, when national unity is needed, the presidential institution should not be the target of gossip and conspiracy theories, thus diverting public attention from the most important issues,” Sarkissian said in his resignation announcement.

The opposition I Have Honor factions said that it will not nominate a candidate for president, given that the Civil Contract Party has a majority in parliament and its nominee will not received the necessary votes. The Armenia Alliance, the other, larger, opposition force in parliament, has not made public its decision about fielding a presidential candidate. The I Have Honor group has signaled that it will support the Armenia Alliance’s candidate.

Simonyan met with the presidential staff and stressed the importance of continuing the duties and work of the office and pledging that until the election of a new president, the office will carry out the work uninterrupted.

Simonyan later toured the presidential residence and became acquainted with the activities of the staff.

In speaking to reporters on Monday, Khachatryan all but confirmed that he would be nominated by the Civil Contract Party. Simonyan told reporters the the decision to nominate Khachatryan, who is currently the minister of IT industry, after lengthy discussions.

Of course, Simonyan made sure to add that his name was also suggested during talks within his party, but he withdrew his candidacy.

Khachatryan was a loyal supporter of former president, Levon Ter-Petrosian, and was a member of his party, the Armenian National Congress. He told reporters on Monday that he resigned from the party following the 2017 parliamentary elections.

Before serving as Ter-Petrosian’s adviser from 1996 to 1998, Khachatryan was the mayor of Yerevan, installed to that post in 1992.